Sally Jane Sommer

Sally Jane Sommer (nee Reigel), 82, passed away peacefully on Monday, June 23, 2025, at Copper Ridge Nursing and Assisted Living Center in Sykesville, Maryland. Sally was born on November 17, 1942, in Marshfield, Wisconsin to Harland and Delores Reigel. Her family moved around Wisconsin throughout her early childhood and finally settled back on the Reigel homestead in Marshfield, where Sally and her siblings helped on the family farm. From an early age, Sally developed a lifelong love of education, reading, and poetry that began in a one-room schoolhouse, where her first teacher was her father, who had taken up teaching to supplement the family’s farming income. Sally prided herself on her dedication to her studies, but often joked (and bemoaned) the fact that the only poor report card she ever received was from her dad. While in high school, Sally met Jerry Sommer at the Marshfield Alliance Church and he was smitten. She wasn’t quite as sure - turning down his first marriage proposal, which led him to enlist in the Marines. Instead, Sally moved to St. Paul, Minnesota and began coursework at St. Paul Bible College. After his discharge, Jerry followed her to Minnesota, proposed again, and this time she said yes. Sally and Jerry married in 1965 and bought their first house together in St. Paul. The newlyweds worked together at the Twin Cities’ Montgomery Ward store - Jerry in the restaurant and Sally in the women’s fashions department, until their first child, David, was born in 1971, followed by daughter Rebecca in 1976. Sally considered it a blessing to stay home and focus on raising their children, as she and Jerry followed his career moves from St. Paul, to Chicago, and then ultimately Sykesville, Maryland in 1980. Sally shared her unconditional love for others and her strong commitment to service and faith not only with her own children, but also with local senior citizens through her involvement in the Carroll County Life Enrichment program, a nonprofit that served nursing home residents without families. As a volunteer at Piney Run Park, Sally was especially proud of her role in founding and developing a program for preschool-aged children called Mother Nature, Mom & Me, which still runs today - more than 40 years later. After her children were grown, she helped raise dozens of others through her work as a preschool teacher and daycare center director. In retirement, spoiling her six grandchildren became her favorite hobby. Sally’s parents, Harland and Delores, met as teenagers at their church’s JOY Club, which stood for “Jesus, Others, and You,” and they instilled those values in their firstborn. Sally lived her life serving Jesus and others, and seeing others’ happiness brought her the greatest joy. Whether for family or strangers, there was no treat she would not offer, no favor she would not grant, and no holiday that she did not use as an excuse to buy a present for someone she loved. David and Becky joked that she was the only mother who gave them gifts on Mother’s Day, saying her greatest gifts arrived they days they were born. Even in the face of Sally’s devastating battle with Alzheimer’s, and his own struggles with Parkinson’s disease, Jerry’s love for and commitment to his high school sweetheart never wavered. He was steadfast in his vows to love her “in sickness and in health” until his own death in March of 2023. Those blessed by Sally’s love and service during her life take comfort knowing she is now fully restored with Jesus, experiencing a joy beyond their comprehension. Sally is preceded in death by her parents, Harland and Delores Reigel; her in-laws, George and Mildred Sommer; her brothers, Stephen and Daniel Reigel; and her brothers-in-law Duaine Berhow, Gordon Fisher, Jim Guetschow, and Marvin Mielke. She will be dearly missed by her children, David Sommer and Rebecca (Sommer) Krage. In addition, she is survived by her sisters; Nancy Berhow and Patricia Fisher; her daughter-in-law, Jill Sommer; her son-in-law, Michael Krage; and beloved grandchildren, Mary, Margaret, and Thomas Sommer, and Elinor, Amelia, and Eliza Krage. She is also survived by her sisters- and brothers-in-law; Beverly Mielke, Richard (Caroline) Sommer, Douglas (Brigitte) Sommer, Barbara Guetschow, Donald (Susan) Sommer, Lorraine Reigel, and Leslie Reigel. A service remembering Sally will be held at 1:30 p.m., Sunday, August 10, 2025, at her church home, Elders Baptist Church in Eldersburg, Maryland. Online condolences may be offered at www.haightfuneralhome.com

Sally Jane Sommer

November 17, 1942 - June 23, 2025