GEORGE SCHMID

George Gregor Schmid, 92, of Minnewaukan, died September 4, 2015, in Devils Lake. Funeral services will be held Saturday, September 12, at 10:30 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Minnewaukan, the Rev. Donald George Schmid and Rev. Lu Mathiason officiating. Burial will be in the Minnewaukan Cemetery with Military Honors accorded by the Neathery-Simensen Post #756, Devils Lake Veterans of Foreign Wars and the North Dakota Military Funeral Honors Team. Visitation is Friday, September 11, at Gilbertson Funeral Home in Devils Lake from 5-7 p.m. George was born April 12, 1923, in Lallie Township, Benson County, to Paul Carl and Emma Kanzelman Schmid. The family moved to the farm of George’s grandparents, Gregor and Karoline Kubler Schmid, just south of Minnewaukan. George graduated in 1941 from Minnewaukan High School, where he was senior class president and active in Playmakers, Quill and Scroll, band, football, basketball, and track. He attended Jamestown College, majoring in chemistry, until he joined the U.S. Navy in the fall of 1943. He served as radioman on the USS Oneida attack transport in the Pacific Theater and was honorably discharged in 1946. He graduated in 1949 from the N.D. State School of Science, Wahpeton, where he was president of the Kilowatt Kings Electrical Club. He later obtained his master electrician’s license and was a practicing electrician. George married Katherine Louise Lindstrom June 10, 1951, at the Presbyterian Church in Minnewaukan and worked for Northwestern Bell Telephone Company in Maddock, Grand Forks, and Devils Lake. They eventually moved to the Albert and Edith Pierson Lindstrom farm northwest of Minnewaukan, where George farmed and raised Hereford cattle until he was appointed postmaster in 1963, a position he held until his retirement from the U.S. Postal Service in 1990. George and Katherine moved into the “Hall house” in Minnewaukan where they brought up their six children. On September 24, 1988, George married Erliss (Annie) Brenno at Trinity Lutheran Church and they lived at the “Hall house” until moving into Heartland Courts in Devils Lake in July 2012 and then into the Heartland Care Center. George was active in the Minnewaukan community, serving as a longtime elder in the Presbyterian Church, president of the Commercial Club, treasurer of West Bay Township, PTA president, school board member, volunteer fireman, and ambulance driver/attendant. He was active in the 55 Club and enjoyed delivering Meals on Wheels to senior residents. A 70-year member of the Gunnerud-Dietrich American Legion Post, he had served as Post Commander. George was an avid golfer and recorded a hole-in-one at the Maddock Golf Club on September 9, 1993, an event noted by local media. George enjoyed playing wiffle ball, croquet, chess, backgammon, cribbage, whist, woodworking, gardening, feeding birds and squirrels, and he loved to dance. George is survived by his wife, Erliss (Annie) Schmid of Devils Lake; six children: Deborah (Wayne) Hansel of Charleston, SC, Mary Beth (Richard) Aiken of Springfield, MO, Donald (Barbara) Schmid of Bismarck, Pamela (Steven) Moritz of Salt Lake City, UT, Mark Schmid of Grand Forks, and Margo (David) Ewing of Minot; three stepchildren: Sara Plum of Maddock, Timothy (Devonna) Brenno of Devils Lake, and Amy Randle of Grand Forks; 12 grandchildren, 6 great-grandchildren, 8 step-grandchildren, 4 step great-grandchildren; his sister Lucille Westby of Maddock, his brother Gordon of Minnewaukan, and two nephews, Gordon Paul Schmid of Devils Lake and Rodger Schmid of Fargo. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Donald, Katherine Lindstrom Schmid, sister-in-law Ardys Schmid, and brother-in-law Clifford Westby. Memorials may be made to the Minnewaukan Cemetery Association or to the Minnewaukan Community Endowment Fund.