Joseph Schmidt Obituary

Joseph Michael Mike Schmidt died December 16 at age 71, in San Rafael, CA, after a courageous year-long battle with small cell lung cancer. Friends are invited to celebrate the joy he has brought to everyones life at a 10:30 am Memorial Mass Friday, January 20, 2012 at Divine Mercy Church, 555 W Main, Gardner, KS. Arrangements: Bruce Funeral Home, Gardner, 913-356-7111. Inurnment at St. Columbine Catholic Cemetery, Edgerton, KS at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Edgerton Frontier Days, PO Box 222, Edgerton, KS 66021, 913-893-6231, www.frontier-days.com. Condolences may be left at www.brucefuneralhome.com Mr. Schmidt was the beloved husband and best friend of Mary Ann Schmidt; loving father of Mary Ellen (Schmidt) Kissell and Joyce Schmidt, father-in-law of Jeffrey Kissell, cherished grandfather of Andrew and Matthew Kissell, devoted son of the late August & Ellen Schmidt, dear brother of Barbara Altenhofen and Gary Pat Schmidt and brother-in-law of Nancy Nies-Labiak. Mr. Schmidt was born in Kansas City, MO, attended school in Edgerton, KS and graduated from De La Salle Military Academy in Kansas City, MO. He then attended Donnelly College in Kansas City, KS and then served his country for five years in the Air Force. While Mike was serving his country in the Air Force overseas, his sister, Barbara, was working on a love connection ... knowing she had an older brother and her roommate, Nancy Nies, had an older sister and they would be perfect for each other. Mike and Mary Ann Nies met for the first time at Mary Anns graduation at St. Mary College in 1963 and were married in Bartlesville, OK a year later, in 1964. They lived in Bartlesville, before returning to Edgerton, where he lived most of his life. He loved the area and the people in it. In Edgerton, Mr. Schmidt was an active member of his community, in capacities ranging from City Councilman, Civil Defense Director, Jaycees, Member of the Volunteer Police Department and Mayor. He enjoyed his involvement in the annual Frontier Days Festival as well as community Halloween and Christmas parties. He was an active Catholic and Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus. He enthusiastically supported bringing the intermodal project to Edgerton. Much of his time was spent on his own business, Mikes Repair and Remodeling. He and his wife formerly owned and operated a small grocery store and restaurant, the Country Store and the Country Queen, in downtown Edgerton. That building now houses the Edgerton Bank of Knowledge. When he wasnt working, Mike enjoyed fishing, traveling, friends and family. Mike and his wife, ventured out to California in the summer of 2010 to enjoy retirement, to be closer to their daughter and her family and to take a break from shoveling snow in the Winter.