SCHMIDT, Vernice 1925-2013

SCHMIDT, SMIT, MEYER

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 3/18/2015 at 21:39:12

Vernice Lorraine (Smit) Schmidt, 88, formerly of Grundy Center, passed away on Saturday, September 21st at the Village of Legacy Pointe in Waukee, Iowa. A funeral service will be held at 10:30 A.M. on Wednesday, September 25th, 2013 at the Engelkes-Abels Funeral Home in Grundy Center. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Burial will follow services at the Rosehill Cemetery in Grundy Center. Memorials may be directed to the family to distribute to charities in Vernice's name.

Vernice was born on August 31, 1925 on a farm southwest of Holland, Iowa. She was the daughter of Henry P. and Grace (Meyer) Smit. She attended Colfax Center Elementary of rural Holland and later the Grundy Center High School, graduating in 1943. She worked at the Grundy National Bank, was a clerk at the Grundy County Deputy Auditor's Office and was also a clerk for the Grundy County Auto Department. She married William R. Schmidt on July 10, 1953. They made their home in Wellsburg for 10 years. On November 25, 1956, they welcomed their daughter Colleen Kaye into their family. After living in Vinton for 3 years, they returned home and lived in Grundy Center.

In 1977, Vernice's husband died and she continued to live in Grundy Center, holding several jobs, including work as a local news correspondent for the Waterloo Courier and the Marshalltown Times Republican newspapers for several years. After her retirement, Vernice moved closer to her daughter and family, living in Adel, Iowa, Neenah, WI and Omaha, NE.

She was very active in churches where she lived, especially her home church of the Colfax Center Presbyterian Church in rural Holland. Vernice had many hobbies including singing, playing the piano, crafts, writing, sewing, cooking and baking.

Vernice is survived by her daughter Colleen (Kelley) Hood of Adel, IA; granddaughter Kristen (Jordan) Lindstedt of Las Vegas, NV; 1 great-grandson Judah; brother Darris Smit of Cedar Falls, IA; brother-in-law Richard K. (Mary) Schmidt and sisters-in-law Nadine (Guy) Railsback of Whittier, CA & Elaine Lindaman of Mesa, AZ; many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband William; her sister Dorothy Schmitt; brother Wilbur Smit; 4 brothers-in-law, 3 sisters-in-law and 2 nieces and 2 nephews.

--Abels Funeral Homes (www.abelsfuneralhomes.com)