Gerald Teunissen was born and raised near Armour, SD and graduated from Corsica High School in 1968. Gerald served in the United States Army as a Dental Laboratory Technician in Germany before being honorably discharged in 1971. He then started American Electric in 1979, selling the company in 2003. Gerald and his wife, Deb, have been married for 49 years and have two children and six grandchildren.