SCHMEIDEL, Wilbur C. 1918-2009
SCHMEIDEL, BAUMANN, BEYER, SIMON, GOEDE
Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 5/31/2010 at 13:09:48
[Waterloo Courier, Thursday, November 12, 2009]
Wilbur Charles Schmeidel, age 91, a resident of Waterloo for 44 years, went home to the Lord on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009, at Cedar Falls Lutheran Home.
Born June 4, 1918, in Minnetonka Township, Hennepin County, Minn., the second of five children born to Hugo and Hattie (Baumann) Schmeidel, he attended Hopkins schools in Minnesota, graduating in 1937. During his school years, his first jobs were yard work, part-time grounds keeper at the golf course and golf caddy. Following graduation, he worked for Minneapolis-Moline in Hopkins until he entered the U.S. Navy in 1943, serving at Dutch Harbor and Kodiak, Alaska, where he experienced his first and only earthquake. After World War II ended, he returned to his job with Minneapolis-Moline until 1959. Other places Wilbur was employed were Walker Deluxe in Lake Mills and Construction Machinery Co. and Schoitz Engineering, both in Waterloo.
He met Marie Beyer at Walther League Camp in the early 1940s, when he bet her he could get the most food in the food line - his bag of oranges against her homemade cookies. He won the bet by bribing the cook. They married in St. Paul, Minn., on June 8, 1946.
Golf was his passion from an early age and he always talked fondly of those times on the golf course. He also loved fishing; however, he was better at telling other people how to catch fish than he was at catching them himself. All of his children were taught to fish and still love it today, and some of the granddaughters love to fish, also. There weren’t many football and baseball games or golf tournaments that he didn’t enjoy watching on TV. In his retirement years, he enjoyed volunteering at his church - Grace Lutheran - Allen Hospital, the Red Cross and the Senior Companion Program.
Wilbur is survived by his wife of 63 years, Marie of Waterloo; three children, Kathie (David) Simon of Bartlesville, Okla., Paul Schmeidel of Enid, Okla., and Al (Donna) Schmeidel of Waterloo; seven granddaughters; four great-granddaughters and five great-grandsons; and his sister, Monica Goede, and brother, Alfred (Ellie) Schmeidel, both of Hopkins.
He was preceded in death by brothers, Carl and Kenneth.
Memorial services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Waterloo. Private family burial with full military honors in Waterloo Memorial Park Cemetery will precede the memorial service. Public visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, at Kearns, Huisman-Schumacher Chapel, Waterloo.
Memorials may be directed to Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1024 W. Eighth St., Waterloo, IA 50702.
Black Hawk Obituaries maintained by Karen De Groote.
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