Jerry Stewart Lausmann was born March 3, 1930, in
Portland, Oregon. He was adopted by Anton and Grace Lausmann. When he was 12, the family moved to
Medford, Oregon, where Anton started a sawmill. but they divorced in 1953. He married Catherine Kennedy in 1955. His next marriage was to a woman named Marion and they divorced in 1963. Lausmann married Donnis O. Briesath on June 5, 1965, in
Winona County, Minnesota. Jerry took over his father's lumber company after his father was unable to run it, and the company eventually diversified into real estate. His four children were Ann Lausmann-Istel, Tony Lausmann, Craig Lausmann, and Sharon Smale-Lausmann. These children were all born prior to his marriage to Donnis. ==Politics==