Reverend Edward Schmidt

Reverend Edward Schmidt was born on Oct. 21, 1916, and died on July 6.

Edward was married for 69 years to Emma Gaub Schmidt, who died on June 12, 2011. He was the father of two children, Elroy Gene Schmidt, and Errol Edward Schmidt, both deceased.

Ed was the oldest of 10 children. He is also survived by three grandchildren, their spouses, and seven great grandchildren.

Edward was born on a farm 10 miles east of Mildred, Montana, to G.G. Schmidt and Otilia Martz Schmidt. Mildred was a German speaking community, and his parents had little knowledge of English when they moved there.

Ed attended elementary school in a country schoolhouse, three miles from his home, and high school 10 miles from his home. After high school, he attended Seminary in Yankton, South Dakota.

He received his Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1924. He served as a minister at Merricourt, North Dakota, for one and a half years.

The next church he served was in Wishek, North Dakota, from 1945-1947.

In August 1947, he accepted a call from Lind where he served at the Lind Congregational Church until June 1951.

After this, Ed worked for the Dryland Experiment Station and the Lind School District driving a school bus. In 1957, he began working full time at the Lind Post Office.

In the next years, he served as interim minister at many nearby churches.

In 2007, he and Emma moved to Moses Lake Senior Living Facility and later to McKay Health Center in Soap Lake, where he died on July 6 at 100 years old.