Jerry Lausmann

Jerry Stewart Lausmann was born March 3, 1930 in Portland, Oregon.[1] He was adopted by Anton and Grace Lausmann.[2] When he was 12, the family moved to Medford, Oregon, where Anton started a sawmill.[2] He graduated from Medford High in 1948, and spent three years in the U.S. Navy before graduating from Oregon State University.[2] He also attended St. Mary's College in Winona, Minnesota.[1]

Lausmann married his first wife Sally Moffitt on 12/27/1951,[3] but they divorced in 1953.[4] He married Catherine Kennedy in 1955.[5] His next marriage was to a woman named Marion and they divorced in 1963.[6] Lausmann married Donnis O. Briesath on June 5, 1965, in Winona County, Minnesota.[7]

Jerry took over his father's lumber company after his father was unable to run it, and the company eventually diversified into real estate.[2] He invented the Smokeless Burner, and held three patents for it in Canada, Japan, and the United States.[1]

His four children were Ann Lausmann-Istel, Tony Lausmann, Craig Lausmann, and Sharon Smale-Lausmann.[2] These children were all born prior to his marriage to Donnis.[1]

Lausmann ran for Congress twice unsuccessfully in the 1970s.[2] He was elected mayor of Medford in 1986.[2] He was mayor of Medford for six consecutive terms, and was the longest-serving mayor the history of the city.[1] He was the mayor of Medford until 1998.[2] In 1999, he was chosen as the "Citizen of the Year" by the Medford Chamber of Commerce.[1]

Lausmann died on January 6, 2012, at Rogue Valley Manor, where he lived with Donnis since spring 2011.[2] He is entombed in the Medford IOOF Cemetery mausoleum.