John Schmidt Obituary

    John Joseph Schmidt, 72, passed away in his sleep the morning of May 4, 2016 at his residence in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.  John was diagnosed with a rare cancer called a chordoma in 2011.  
    John was born July 12, 1943 in Lake City to George and Bernice (Ryan) Schmidt.  He graduated from Lincoln High School in 1961.
    After completing his associate's degree in art at Rochester Junior College (now Rochester Community and Technical College) in 1963, John volunteered for the Peace Corps.  He left for the state of Maharashtra in west central India in 1964 after training for a month in Puerto Rico and for three months at the University of California at Davis.  While in India, his primary duties were in the field of poultry improvements on the Indian farms.
    John returned from India in 1966 and met and married Mary Lembezeder.  John continued his education at Winona State University and graduated in 1968 with a bachelor of arts degree.  John chose a life in sales, which took him and his family to Lansing, Mich.  John sold a variety of home décor, most notably Hummel figurines.  Those figurines helped put their sons through Catholic high school and college at the University of Michigan.
    Papa John enjoyed an active role with his four grandchildren by both caring for and spoiling them.  The grandkids especially enjoyed the spoiling part.  Those lucky enough to have tasted his won ton soup knew that Papa John had a passion for cooking.  He was also quite the numismatist (coin collector) and had an active “store” on eBay.  
    His favorite walking path was on Scenic Drive, taking in the fresh sea air and watching the activities on the beach.
    John is survived by his two sons, Andrew (Wendy) Schmidt of Carmel, Calif. and Nathan (Kara) Schmidt of Houston, Texas; four grandchildren, Alexander, Gabrielle, Aaron, and Ethan; his former wife of 45 years, Mary Schmidt of Lansing, Mich.; five siblings, Francis (Rita) Schmidt of Plainview, Mary O’Neal of Rochester, Marguerite “Peggy” Marquette of Sacramento, Calif., Kathleen (William) Hollman of Lake City and George (Ellie) Schmidt of Rochester.  He was preceded in death by three siblings,  Thomas Schmidt, Dorothy Sexton and Elaine Dammann.
    A celebration of life for family and friends will be held on Sunday June 5 at the Carmel Woman’s Club in Carmel-by-the-Sea at 2 p.m.  John will be buried in San Carlos Catholic Cemetery in Monterey, Calif.
    Local mass intensions for John will be held on June 12, at 10 a.m. at St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church in Lake City
    In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Chordoma Foundation www.chordoma foundation.org.