Schmidthuber, Leo V. (1918-2018)

SCHMIDTHUBER, HELLAND, PAULSON, LANDE, GAVLE, STAMATELOS, NOAH, SPANJERS, COLLMANN

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 1/26/2018 at 12:53:06

Leo Schmidthuber
October 20, 1918 - January 04, 2018

Leo Vernon Schmidthuber played his last inning, passing away in his home the evening of January 4, 2018.

The sixth of eight children, Leo was born in rural Worth County, Iowa, to Michael and Ragnhild (Lolla) Helland Schmidthuber on October 20, 1918. He attended first country school and then Lake Mills High School. A multi-sport athlete, he graduated in 1936. Then, he played baseball in the Southern Minnesota League, a part of the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

Leo served in the United States Army during World War II, spending much of his service time as a member of a U.S. Army baseball team. On October 14, 1944, he married Margery Paulson at Salem Lutheran Church in Lake Mills while home on leave from the Army. He served in post war Japan, visiting Hiroshima and later talking about the damage the Atomic Bomb had wrought.

In 1952, Leo traveled to Greenland to work on Operation Blue Jay, constructing the Thule Air Force Base, a project that historians compare in size to the construction of the Panama Canal. After returning to Iowa, he worked at the Wilson Packing Company in Albert Lee, Minnesota, and farmed with his brother, Horace, both on the family farm and on the land, he and Margery purchased in 1948. Throughout, he continued to play baseball on the Emmons, Minnesota, town team.

After retiring from Wilson in 1983 and from farming in the mid-1990s, Leo worked as a volunteer ambulance driver and delivered Winnebago Motorhomes all over the United States. Moreover, he never lost his love of baseball.

He was pre-deceased by his parents; his wife; his sisters: Gladys Lande, Irene Lande, Viola Gavle, and Doris Stamatelos; and his brothers: Horace, Russell, and Dale. He is survived by a son, Michael, of Montana; two daughters, Jane (Steven) Noah, of Clive, Iowa, and Ann (Matthew) Spanjers, of York, Nebraska; his grandsons: Bart Schmidthuber, of Montana, Andrew Spanjers, of Nebraska, and Jake Spanjers, of San Diego, California; a granddaughter, Mariah (Aaron) Collmann, of West Des Moines, Iowa; and a great- grandson, Parker Collmann; as well as by many nephews and nieces.

Memorials may be directed to the Salem Lutheran Church, Lake Mills, Iowa.

There will be a Celebration of Leo’s life held in Lake Mills, Iowa, when baseball season is in full swing.

Mittelstadt Funeral Home, Lake Mills, Iowa, 2018.

Winnebago Obituaries maintained by Cheryl Siebrass.
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