Retzlaff is of German-Swedish-Samoan descent, having inherited his German ancestry from his paternal grandfather. His name "Telefoni", is the name that was given by the Samoan community in the early twentieth century, to his grandfather, when he arrived in the German colony, as a public servant of the postal services, to introduce the telephone to the country. He was educated at Marist Brothers in
Apia He studied law at the
University of Auckland, graduating in 1974. His eldest son
Lemalu Herman Retzlaff was subsequently appointed and also served as Attorney General of Samoa in 2016. ==Political career==