Lois Schmidt, 97, of Mt. Pulaski passed away on June 9, 2018, at the Christian Village in Lincoln.
Lois Bernice Schmidt was born on February 15, 1921, a daughter of Clem and Anna (Fink) Garton at their country home near Lincoln.
As a teenager, she was active in 4-H. She worked at Kresskis on Saturday’s while attending college.
Lois helped organize the Rural Youth Organization for young people of the county where she first met her husband Julian.
Lois graduated from Lincoln High School, Lincoln College and later received her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Illinois State University. She taught two years at Popcorn Country School near Chestnut. At this time WWII was taking place and Julian Schmidt, a Navy Pilot, came home to wed Lois at the Methodist Church in Lincoln on May 2, 1943. They left after the wedding to live at a navy base at Cocoa Beach, Florida. Julian flew the large PBM plane to patrol the Atlantic Ocean for submarines.
Lois had three happy years while based here. She met a nice group of Navy wives.
Lois was the mother of three wonderful sons, Gene (Pat) Schmidt of Mt. Pulaski, Gary (Kathy) Schmidt of Lincoln, IL and Keith Schmidt of Las Vegas, NV. Also surviving are eight very close grandchildren, Dr. Tarin (Steve) Dalton of Blue Ridge, VA, Lainen (Eric) Graff of Cumming, GA, Jason (Casie) Schmidt of Lincoln, IL, Adam (Alyssa) Schmidt of Lincoln, IL, Anna (Rodney) Laubenstein of Lincoln, IL, Jordan (Carolann) Schmidt of Monroe, WA; Julie (Ben) Jensen of Bloomington, IL, Jeremiah (Laura) Schmidt of East Peoria, IL. There are 17 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild: Londyn Lois. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Julian on September 4, 2015, two brothers, four sisters and her infant baby girl.
She was a member of the Zion Lutheran Church in Mt. Pulaski. She enjoyed teaching the little ones Sunday School and the summer vacation bible school when she was younger. Lois was the treasurer on the first Logan County Home Extension Board and president of the Mt. Pulaski Extension. She was very active in the Mt. Pulaski Women’s Club organization, serving two years as president and helping anyway as needed. She enjoyed playing bridge and meeting new friends. She helped organize the wonderful group of friends for the Pinochle Club. Their group traveled for many years to Hawaii, several couples for Caribbean Cruises and Florida and many on shorter trips. Lois taught 20 years before retiring. Her husband and friends urged her to retire so they could travel together.
Funeral services for Lois will be at 11:00 AM Wednesday, June 13, 2018, at the Mt. Pulaski Zion Lutheran Church with Rev. Jonathan Buescher officiating. Visitation will be from 4:00-7:00 P.M. Tuesday, June 12, at Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home in Mt. Pulaski. Burial will be at Mt. Pulaski Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Mt. Pulaski Zion Lutheran School.
