Smitty

Leroy Schmidt

September 16 1924 - August 7, 2012

I'm going to take a break from finishing Penelope's Birth Story today to write about my Grandpa "Smitty".  He passed away somewhat unexpectedly yesterday afternoon.  He was a classic, hardworking and generous man who would be turning 88 next month.  So, with some inspiration from a friend I have decided to write a memory of my grandpa here on my blog each day until his birthday on September 16th.  Here's to you Grandpa, they don't make 'em like you anymore :)  Love you!

My grandpa is hardest working person I think I have ever met.  Even after he retired at the ripe age of 75 he was always keeping himself busy.  He rarely sat down for a long period of time.  There was always something to clean or fix.  It would not be unusual for him to stop mid track and bend over to pick up a tiny speck of something off the floor of his home...a piece of dirt or lint.  Earlier this year, maybe even the day I took this picture, I went to visit my Grandparents.  It was not long after Penelope was born because I had just gotten a new car and a new license plate but hadn't put it on yet - My Grandpa was eager to take care of that for me.

Noticing the dealer plate on my back windshield was almost expired he asked "Well, Sally, don't you have the new plates yet?" I responded that I had them in the front seat but had been so busy with Penny that we hadn't put them on yet.  He said "Well, go ahead and get them out.  I'll put them on right now".  I tried to tell him it was okay and I would have Ryan do it as soon as he came home from work that night.  He would not take no for an answer.  Please note, this was some time in January and my grandpa was 87 years old, however that did not stop him.  I went inside with my Grandma & Penny (because of the cold) and my Grandpa proceeded to carefully put on the plates :)   When I was leaving I thanked him but he said he didn't do a very good job because he didn't have the "right" screws and had to use the little ones that the DMV had given along with the license.  He said he would keep looking for some because he "could swear I had just the right ones right here somewhere".  I didn't think much of it, I was sure the ones he used would be just fine. 

A couple of months later when I was visiting again Grandpa disappeared to the garage, which was not an unusual thing.  As I said earlier he seemed to alwlays be working on fixing something around the house.  However, when I left that afternoon he told me that he had "found those screws and replaced the cheap ones" the DMV had given me with some stronger ones for my license plate.  It took me a minute to realize what he was talking about.  I had long since forgotten all about how he didn't like the screws that came with the license.  This is just one example of my Grandpa's great personality. 

He is survived by his beautiful bride of 65 years.  5 Children.  14 Grandchildren.  18 Great Grandchildren.