Gerald Willet

Gerald (Jerry) Leroy Willet (October 31, 1934 – September 10, 2017) was an American politician, businessman, and heavy equipment operator.

Willet was born in Duluth, Minnesota. He grew up on a farm in rural Laporte, Minnesota and graduated from Laporte High School in 1952. After high school, he traveled to the United States working as a heavy equipment operator until 1964. He then moved his family back to Minnesota where he owned and operated a furniture store in Park Rapids, Minnesota. He served on the Civil Air Patrol. Willet served in the Minnesota Senate from 1971 to 1988 and was a Democrat. He was then appointed by the Governor, Rudy Perpich, as the Commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Willet died at the Frazee Care Center in Frazee, Minnesota.