Alferd 'Al' (A.M.) Merle Schmidt

Alferd Merle (A.M.) Schmidt was born on a farm in Westport Township, rural Everly, Iowa on April 29, 1925. He was the oldest of five sons born to John and Mary (Ringering) Schmidt. He was a baptized member of the First Reformed Church near his home, attended country school, Westport #1 and graduated from Okoboji Township Consolidated High School in Dickinson County in 1943. Al was drafted into the service in January of 1944 and joined the Navy. While in the Navy, he attended Ohio Wesleyan University for Officer's Training and later served aboard the destroyer USS Cassin Young in the Pacific Theater. After the war, he returned to Iowa and while helping on the family farm, learned the carpentry trade. Al was united in marriage to Mary Jean Kuhn on April 21, 1951, in Savannah, Georgia. They made their home in Spencer, Iowa and had three children: Mark, Kirby, and Julie. Al ran a construction business in Spencer for 40 years, building homes from the early 50's until the late 60's. He then began doing concrete construction work, primarily municipal street paving and curb and gutter jobs in Spencer and surrounding communities. He retired his business in 1992. Civic duty and pride in his community led Al to participate in numerous local organizations throughout his lifetime: the Spencer City Council and various municipal advisory groups, Civil Service Commission, the American Legion, Clay County Tax Review Board, Spencer Municipal Airport Board, the local chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association and Toastmasters. Al and Mary became members of Bethany Lutheran Church when they came to Spencer and Al served countless hours in many capacities at Bethany through the years. Al suffered a lifelong affliction: a passion for airplanes and flying. He was interested in anything to do with aviation and loved nothing more than the beauty of Iowa farmlands from the cockpit of a plane. He was also an avid reader with unending curiosity about what people did and how things worked. He was preceded in death by his parents, John and Mary, and two sisters-in-law, Judy Schmidt and Dorothea Kuhn. He is survived by his wife, Mary Jean, of Spencer, his son, Mark Schmidt and his wife, Robin and daughter Natasha of rural Everly, his son Kirby Schmidt and his wife Sandi of Spencer, and their daughter Rachel of Marion, Iowa, his daughter Julie Schmidt, her husband, Lee Vogel and their sons Cedar and Wren of Spencer; four brothers and their wives, Dale and Mary Schmidt, Richard and Betty Schmidt, Walter and Lillian Schmidt, all of Spencer, and Robert and Audrey Schmidt of Hartley, IA; sister-in-law, Frances Payne and husband Edgar Donald of Milford, IA; brother-in-law Donald Kuhn and wife Marie of Columbia, IL; many cousins, nieces, nephews and friends. In lieu of flowers, please direct any memorials to Bethany Lutheran Church for the benefit of the Tanzania Well Drilling Project.

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