‘Bill’ Schmidt Dies

Head of Monument Firm was a City Councilman for Many Years

Methodist Rites to be Held Friday at 2

Long prominent on the local and civic scene prior to his retirement, 75-year-old E.W. (Bill) Schmidt died yesterday morning.

Head of the E.W. Schmidt & Son Monument Works, Mr. Schmidt had been ill several years, and had been in critical condition the past two weeks. His death occurred at 6:15 a.m. yesterday at the Blair Convalescent Home.

The body was taken to the Campbell Mortuary. Funeral services, it is announced, will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at First Methodist Church. The Rev. Homer L. Dickerson will officiate, and burial will be in Blair Cemetery.

Mr. Schmidt, son of Detlef and Anna Schmidt, was born Dec. 6, 1874, on the present Clarence Arnold farm northwest of Blair. With the exception of one year spent at Tekamah, he was a life-long resident of Blair.

In Business in 1897

Mr. Schmidt began work for the J.E. Lutz monument firm here in 1897, and was constantly in the same line of business until his retirement several years ago. He and his brother, Otto Schmidt, opened the present monument works in 1915.

Mr. Schmidt and Adele Weygand, a native of Alsace-Lorraine, were married here Sept. 14, 1899.

For many years Mr. Schmidt served as a Blair city councilman, his most recent term expiring less than ten years ago. He also was prominent in I.O.O.F. and Modern Woodmen of American Lodges. Mr. Schmidt suffered a stroke in 1944 and had been in poor health since then. His wife died in February, 1948.

Surviving Mr. Schmidt are his son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest A. Schmidt of Blair, a daughter, Miss Anna Schmidt, teacher at Calumet City, Ill., who arrived in Blair last night; two sisters, Mrs. J.L. Pounds (Margaret) and Mrs. E.C. Lippincott (Emma), both of Blair; and two brothers, Henry Schmidt of near Florence and Otto D. Schmidt of Norfolk. There are several nephews and nieces.

Note: there is a photo on the original newspaper obituary

Find A Grave Memorial# 110347591