Jean Elizabeth Sonneman

Jean Elizabeth Sonneman, 66, Washington, DC, died Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, at Sibley Memorial Hospital, Washington, DC, as a result of a heart attack.

Jean was born September 30, 1957, to Lawrence and Laurelle (Backer) Sonneman at Vermillion, SD. Jean moved with her family to Clarinda, IA and later to Rapid City, SD. She attended Rapid City Central High School, where she was a member of the debate team and 4-H. Jean graduated in 1975.

Jean earned a B.A. in English, cum laude, from Carleton College, Northfield, MN in 1979; an M.A. in Biology from the University of South Dakota, Vermillion in 1982; and a J.D. from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. in 1986. She was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in 1987.

Jean started her career at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission – first with the Office of Administrative Law Judges, then the Office of the General Counsel. She was an attorney for Interstate Natural Gas Association of America. She worked for the Department of the Interior – first as an attorney for the Office of the Solicitor, then as a senior regulatory analyst at the Bureau of Land Management. Jean returned to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in January 2020 as a regulatory analyst.

Jean has many career accomplishments, including the successful defense of the 1995 Bureau of Land Management grazing regulations in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jean loved to contemplate the meaning of things. She enjoyed reading and sharing poetry. Jean loved cooking, history, architecture, movies and music. She enjoyed bird-watching trips and spending time with friends and family. Jean formed strong relationships with her co-workers. Jean always greeted you with a cheerful smile.

Jean is preceded in death by her parents, Lawrence and Laurelle (Backer) Sonneman; brothers, Paul Sonneman and Mark Sonneman; grandparents, Leon and Edith (Wilson) Sonneman, and Charles and Eliza (Bradshaw) Backer.

Jean is lovingly remembered by numerous co-workers, friends and family, including Marianne (Robert) Hansen, Marilee (Paul) Kostadimas, Marilinn (Victor Romo) Sonneman, Ken (Deb) Wilson, Martin Wilson, Paula Liepold, Marleen (Russ) Ohnstad and Judy LaBonne.

A memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 6, at DeVol Funeral Home, 2222 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.

A celebration of life will be at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 13, at First United Methodist Church, 629 Kansas City St., Rapid City, SD. Interment at Pine Lawn Memorial Cemetery will follow.

Memorials are preferred to a scholarship fund Jean established for medical laboratory students in honor of her mother: The Lawrence and Laurelle (Backer) Sonneman Scholarship at the University of Sioux Falls. Gifts can be made online at www.USiouxFalls.edu/giving or mailed to 1101 West 22nd St., Sioux Falls, SD 57105.

DeVol Funeral Home, Washington, DC, and Pine Lawn Memorial Cemetery, Rapid City, are in care of arrangements.