Born on the Fourth of July

Born on the Fourth of July - John Thomas Schmidt -BIG JOHN - USMC

Toast to a departed friend!

Here’s to SSGT John Thomas Schmidt of the United States Marine Corp who served not one, but two tours of duty in Viet Nam with the Fifth Counter Intelligence Team.

Born on the fourth of July

FNU MNU LNU

And all my other veteran friends, those I know and those I don't know.  Others will never know why we weep when we think about each other.

John Schmidt's Death Notice:

John Thomas Schmidt, San Angelo, Texas, died on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. Visitation will be all day Thursday. September 10, 2009, with the family present from 6-8 p.m.

Funeral service will be at 2 p.m. on Friday September 11, 2009 at First Assembly of God, with burial to follow at Pioneer Memorial Park. Arrangements are by Shaffer Funeral Home. John Thomas Schmidt was born on july 4, 1949, in Colorado, Calif., to Ralph Severin Schmidt and Valencia Jean Hanlon, raised in Northwood, Iowa by his grandparents Fred and Alma Schmidt.

Grandpa Fred died when John was three, and his grandmother raised him until she died in 1962. John was then raised by a cast of relatives, including Art and Alma Schmidt, who guided John into adulthood. That process was completed by the United States Marine Corps, which took custody of John on July 4, 1967. After typical Marine Corps training, John went to Vietnam from February 1969 until October 1969, having extended his tour for six months.

One of John's best friends in high school, Kenneth "Butch" Baldwin, was killed in Vietnam on August 18, 1968. With his active duty in the Marine Corps over on July 4, 1971, and after experiencing the counter culture for a few years, John completed college with a degree in history from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1977, Staying in Kansas City, Missouri, and after entertaining several lines of work, John began working in broadcasting in 1979, working for WHB-AM as a newsman, doing live reports as the "Red Rover". Later that year, John worked as a nwsman and disc jockey for KY102FM before leaving in 1983 to work as a 'serious' radio news journalist at WDAF-AM, 61 Country, where he was mentored by Charles Gray. John married Angel Doreen Gilmore on December 16, 1985, and inherited her three children. Crystal, Joe and James Grimes, and became their Dad.

After deciding to become a serious parent. John quit drinking and partying on May 19, 1986. He and Angel then had four more children. Emily, John II, Samantha, and Jacob Schmidt. John and Angel have 10 grandchildren.

Thomas, Aaron, Sky, Levi, Matthew, Ethan and Trey Grimes. Brittany and Monica Rojas. Emily and her husband Scott Clay gave John a grandson, Kyler Tanner Clay. John worked in broadcasting for 25 years. After WDAF-AM John and Angel moved to Texas their family in a more 'sane' environment, where John worked first for KNTS-AM radio in Abilene, Texas. KTAB-TV in Abiline, then the family moved to San Angelo, where John worked for KLST-TV in San Angelo. John found his true love and passion to be teaching and started teaching at Grape Creek High School in 2004. He taught there until September 8, 2009.

As a final epithet John said, "I have lived a long, full and wonderfull life. Things went good and things went bad, but the good by far outweighed the bad. I have found nothing more rewarding then knowing, loving and being loved by my wife, Angel. Having experienced the lives of my children has been an exciting and wonderful venture for which I am truly grateful. My Lord and God has truly blessed me with a wonderful life, for which I have no regrets. May everyone live in peace and enjoy each other."

Shaffer Funeral Home; {325} 481-3131

Published in Kansas City Star, September 10, 2009

Burial: Pioneer Memorial Park, Grape Creek, Tom Green County, Texas

[Submitted to IaGenWeb by Bonnie Lou Nichols, 12/18/2009]