Carol Schmidt

Carol Schmidt passed away on Friday, August 20th at Northern Michigan Regional Hospital in Petoskey due to complications from a heart attack there in June of this year. Carol was born Helen Carol True on January 17, 1934. Her sisters (Janet, deceased, Barbara, deceased, and Joan(joe-ann), surviving) named her for their mother and for the music of the recent Christmas season. She grew up in Harbor Beach, Michigan. She loved her time spent at the family cottage on Lake Huron further north. She enjoyed the local sports events and going to many movies. Carol met her friend Ann Bunting Cleland at the age of two or three, and Lorraine Kranke Storrs by middle school. They remained in close contact their whole lives. Carol graduated 3rd in her class from Harbor Beach High School in 1951. She attended Grace Hospital School of Nursing in Detroit and graduated in 1954. January 21, 1956 Carol married (Oliver) Keith Schmidt. She moved with him to Arlington VA where Keith was stationed in the Army and Carol worked as a nurse in a Washington, DC women's clinic. A short time later, they moved back to Keith's family farm in Forestville, just south of Harbor Beach. The summer of 1961 was a joyous time for Carol. In August of that year, their first adopted son Andy was delivered to their doorstep. It was a short time later that Carol remembered thinking "I would give my life for this child" Two years later her joy increased when she gave birth to a daughter, Joanne, whom she named after her closest sister. Five years later Carol and Keith adopted another son, Daniel and just 19 months later Carol had their youngest, Peter. In June of 1971, Carol and Keith moved to Pickford, purchasing Forest Smith's farm. Carol continued her roll of mother and full time farm wife, providing many meals remembered to this day by all the summer farm hands employed throughout the years. Families at the fair enjoyed her many batches of brownies, eventually delivered to one family in a shoe box marked "zucchini". The U.P. was a new way of life in many ways. Carol became active in many things. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church and active in circle, Sunday school, and Choir. She taught children's Sunday school various years and led the singing for grade schoolers many years. The posters with words to the songs handwritten in marker by Carol over 30 years ago are still in use today! Carol spent time helping at Northwoods Christian Camp. She was a member of the Women Today Staff, helping organize and run the annual retreat held at Lake State. You could often find her on school trips, FHA, FFA, Band, as well as at basketball, volleyball, track and other activities of her children. Or, better yet, greeting you joyously in front of the grocery store! She was member of the Farm Bureau Women's Committee as well as a local community action group along with Keith. One of Carol's favorite activities was her neighborhood bible study. She led it for around 20 years. Her time with the "girls" was treasured. She enjoyed that they called her the" kid". It eventually faded away as the participants could no longer drive! Carol was an active communicator. Her kitchen table was a constant flow of letters, cards, comics and articles coming and going to friends near and far. A trip to Petoskey for a doctor's visit for over 30 years meant an opportunity to share lunch and a page of jokes with her friends Samia Mikhail and Margaret Dawson whom she originally met through Presbytery Women's Assoc! Even a Petoskey hospital stay could be looked forward to as it meant a daily visit from each of her dear Petoskey friends. Carol's long time yearning to see Hawaii finally was satisfied in 1993 when she and Keith rented out the farm and spent three months in Kona at a Youth With A Mission(YWAM) school. They traveled from there to Russia on outreach and finally to Latvia where they lived as missionaries for about eighteen months. Carol held many of those Latvian friends dear to her heart the rest of her life. Carol traveled home for a short time in January 1994 from Latvia to be in Michigan for the birth of her first grandchild, Abbie Galloway(Joanne & Gary). Other grandchildren include Christine Galloway, Bradley Galloway, Samuel (Peter) Schmidt, Jesse Schmidt, Chloe Schmidt, Benjamin Schmidt and Beth (Daniel & Kim) Schmidt. Carol enjoyed her visits with Karen Tenbrink(Andy Schmidt) Please join Carol's family for a celebration of her life on Saturday, September 25, 2:00 pm at the United Methodist Church in Pickford, Mi. Please dress casual and joyful - a Hawaiian shirt, fuscia, or white shirt would be in order! Pastor Paul Gruenberg will share a few thoughts, son, Peter will provide a eulogy of celebration, we will share photos of joyous times and wrap up with a social hour and a light luncheon. Come prepared to share your fond memories with her children and grandchildren. Carol's has gone to be with her lord, she did not want anyone looking at her after she passed, her remains will be laid, by the family, in Cottle Cemetery next to Keith. Memorials may be made to Northwoods Christian Camp scholarship fund (Pickford, Michigan).

Tributes

Carol Schmidt

January 17, 1934 - August 20, 2010