Jerry (Palmer J.) Sondreal was born on June 20, 1942. He graduated from Amery (Wisconsin) High School, and spent two years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before entering the Peace Corps in 1962. While a Peace Corps volunteer, Sondreal taught elementary school in Dawan, Mati, Davao City in the Philippines. Following his return from the Philippines, he completed a B.S. degree in political science at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Sondreal spent the summer of 1965 as a political intern with Senator Gaylord Nelson. After completing college, he entered the U.S. Army, attended officer candidate school at Fort Benning, Georgia, and became a first lieutenant.
In 1969 Sondreal returned to Amery to become managing editor of the Amery Free Press, a weekly Polk County newspaper published and edited by his father, Palmer H. Sondreal.
Jerry Sondreal has been active in county Democratic politics and campaigns. In addition to holding local Democratic Party offices, he served on the West Central Wisconsin Health Planning Council (1971-1973) and on the Polk County Health Planning Council (1971-1974). He has worked with the Amery Community Club, is a member of the planning commission of the City of Amery, and serves on the board of directors of IMPACT 7, the west-central Wisconsin community development corporation. Sondreal and his wife, Lynn (Neubauer), are the parents of two children, Pat and Tae, who was a five-year old Korean orphan adopted in 1976.
