Norbert Schmidt's Funeral
Dear Paul and Kate, Melanie and Jared, Bridget and Justin, Sara, Ben and Sarah, Heather, Audrey, Rachel, and Matt via hardcopy,
cc: file, Tony Hafen, Pauline Nelson via mail,
Sara and Des Penny, and Maxine Shirts
Welcome to "Thoughtlets." This is a weekly review of an idea,
belief, thought, or words that will hopefully be of some benefit
to you, my children, with an electronic copy to on-line extended
family members. Any of you can ask me not to clutter your mail
box at any time.
"As you can tell from this week's title, Norbert Schmidt died
(0215.html, 0216.html, 0217.html, 0219.html, 0225.html, and
0227.html). He died last Sunday. This is one of the reasons
last Sunday was so busy. When Andrea proofed the Thoughtlet
on Monday, she reminded me I didn't put that in. I didn't
go back and add it because I knew it would be the theme this
week. We did spend a couple of hours Sunday evening with
Chris, his Mom, Michelle, and their three kids last helping
them work through some of the issues around the impending
funeral. It is a lot better to get everything put together
before the event. I haven't talked to Mom nor Sara about this,
and guess I better get on the ball, since someday Mom's body
will give up. It has been 14 weeks since I have mailed a
Thoughtlet to Mom, because our printer is busted and I haven't
figured out a way to print them. Hopefully we will get it
fixed and I can send the back copies. In the meantime this
is an elephant in the room that I need to at least talk to
Aunt Sara about.
There were several other things that happened this week.
Mostly project building stuff, like a new possible project in
the Anhui Province of the Nanling Basin in China, a big
project in the Blackfoot Reservation of Montana by Glacier
National Park and the Canadian Border, meetings with a group
buying deals called Bulldog Exploration, an absolutely
wonderful telephone conversation with the Director of
Technology at Anadarko, follow up conversation with Laura
Hullman about training, setting up a meeting with Escopeta
Petroleum, discussions with Basal about tieing down a long
term agreement with Emerald, invoices to Jude, Andrea making
a birthday cake for Jude and burning the candles all the way
into the cake before he made it in the room, discussions
about the future of Emerald, etc. I watched Smallville on
Tuesday while Andrea was at Relief Society, and Enterprise
on Wednesday with Andrea while Matt was at Young Men's.
David got jobs at Blockbuster and Target and was trained
for both of them. I have all but two songs written in my
notebook. There was some work on an Open Mind. Roice is
collecting some data for the book for me. Ben called to
say Texas A&M got the Homeland Security deal, and wondered
if I ever got tied into it. Not yet. Andrea is frustrated
with the water damage on the ceiling in the kitchen. The
price of tickets to go to her nephew's wedding in Spokane
are too expensive, and she hasn't decided what to do about
going or taking me with her yet. It looks like we will be
here for Thanksgiving. Anyway, it was a busy week with not
many real results. This, of course, does not count Norbert
Schmidt's Funeral. These results are final, and since we
live in a transient area, and don't have funerals very often,
they always bring us back to what's important.
The Memorial Service Agenda reads:
<![CDATA[ Organist/Prelude Music Gary Jones
Chorister Robyn Branning
Conducting Bishop Vaughn Camp
Opening Song Oh My Father
Opening Prayer Gene Azbill
Duet Abide With Me Michelle Schmidt
Carolee Weber
Eulogy Chris E. Schmidt
Remarks (Plan of Salvation) Harold Burnham
Solo Someday He Will Come Carolee Weber
Remarks Roice Nelson
Concluding Remarks Bishop Vaughn Camp
Closing Song God Be With You Till We Meet Again
Closing Prayer Martin Nicol
Dedication of Grave Bishop Vaughn Camp
Pallbearers David Azbill
Chritian Azbill
Bob Burnham
Elder Atwood
Elder Palmer
Steve Short]]>
The eulogy for Norbert Schmidt's Funeral reads:
<![CDATA[ `NORBERT (NORB) Schmidt, 84 passed away, Sunday, November
10, 2002. Norb was born July 4, 1918 in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin to Arthur and Celia Schmidt. He was the
youngest of three children and the only sibling to
attend college. Norb graduated with honors as a math
major from the University of Wisconsin on June 17, 1940.
As a life long business executive and marketing specialist,
Norb rose within the corporate ranks from time study
engineer to become President of the "Arrow Shirt Company."
Unlike most contemporary business employees, Norb was
employed for over thirty-four years by the Arrow Company
and its parent corporation Cluett, Peabody, and Company.
Most importantly, Norb was a faithful and devoted father
and spouse. He is preceded in death by his parents and
older brother Earl A. Schmidt. He is survived by his
wife (of sixty years) Laurie V. Schmidt, and son
Christopher Eric Schmidt and wife Michelle Schmidt, Anna,
Laura, and Johnathan Schmidt his grandchildren.']]>
My remarks were also written for you kids, with the hope
they will help you each pause and contemplate the eternal.
They read:
<![CDATA[ `NORB SCHMIDT
Inside the program for Norb's Baptismal Program, from
the 28th of April 2002, are the words from John 3:5,
where it says:
"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
Norb Schmidt was my friend, even though he was 83 1/2
and I was 52 1/2 when he was baptized. Maybe we were
friends because I am starting to realize, even with 31
years between them, we are both old. Maybe we were
friends because we are both engineers, and treat the
world in a very similar measurement based way. Maybe
we were friends because we both had a temper in our
younger years, and we understood each other. Maybe
we were friends because we are both insecure. Maybe
we were friends because we both like, love, and respect
his son Chris. I know I liked Chris's Dad when Chris
first introduced us. I think I asked him on that first
meeting why he hadn't joined the church, and from that
time on, I kind of took on the role of asking the
questions Chris wanted answers to.
One of the most fascinating things about our friendship
was the common acquaintances we have.
Karl Kuby, Norb and Lori's home teacher for 15 years in
Dallas, hired me part time to process deer and to pay
the medical bills associated with the birth of my
oldest son. I was Elders Quorum President and later
Executive Secretary and later Ward Clerk when Karl was
in our Bishopric in the Dallas 1st Ward. When Karl
called me last night, we had a wonderful conversation
catching up. He just had major surgery on his knee and
wanted me to express his sorrow he could not come down
today. He talked about how much Norb liked to come in
and buy German sausage. He, like many of us, didn't
understand why Norb did not join the church years ago.
When Norb had serious cancer some years ago in Dallas,
the Bishop who gave him a healing priesthood blessing
was John Betrand, one of my Home Teaching Advisors
when I was Elder's Quorum President in the Dallas 1st
Ward. I know this was a special experience for Norb.
I know it disappointed him that John later left the
church and the mother of his 10 children and married
his nurse. Maybe Norb was afraid of joining the church
because of the example of others.
When Norb and Lauri moved to Houston to be closer to
Chris and Michelle, Anna, Laura, and Johnny, they moved
into the Richmond-Rosenberg Ward. One of my best
friends, Blaine Taylor, was the High Priest Group Leader
in this Ward. We talked several times about what it
would take to get Norb to agree to take the discussions
again. When my oldest cousin, Daryll Krueger, came to
Houston to console me in my time of pain, Daryll and I
drove down to Norb's house, went up to the door, I
reintroduced myself, and challenged him to be baptized.
I think we scared him to death.
It was a wonderful blessing for me to be involved in
teaching Norb Schmidt about the restoration. In many
ways, he was the teacher. He had been a Gospel Doctrine
Teacher. He had paid for Chris' mission to Norway. He
did not discourage Sister Schmidt's involvement in the
church.
However, it wasn't until Sister Schmidt got really ill,
and Norb emotionally realized he might lose her, that
he decided it was time to take the discussions. It was
an honor to be with Elder Kasten, Elder K, and Elder
Snow during each of the discussions when Norb was taught.
Norb is a good man, with a good heart, and a good mind.
He had significant accomplishments during his life. He
loved his wife. Listening to the tenderness with which
he talked about her, sharing tears, and experiencing his
sincire concerns about whether he was good enough for
her were spiritual highlights in my life. It helped me
want to be a better husband for Andrea, and helped me
keep perspective on what is important in life.
I could talk for a long time about Norb Schmidt's baptism.
To me it reflects Norb's character, strength, and
influence that his Home Teacher from New York, Doug
Jackson, flew down to attend the baptism. I recall in the
fellowshipping discussion about Family Home Evenings how
Norb expressed his joy in spending Family Home Evening
with his Grandkids. Sure he also pointed out how active
Johnathan is, and that at his age he could not keep up
with him. Who can?
Then after Norb's baptism, Matt and I were the Schmidt's
home teachers for a while. The Schmidt's brought out the
best in Matt, and we had some of our best home teaching
experiences being taught by the spirit at their feet.
It's not been very often friends have asked me to bring
my guitar over and sing songs with them. Brother and
Sister Schmidt did, and I know I had a good time.
Last January I sprained my ankle really bad, and for
several months it would swell up about twice it's normal
size. During one of the discussions I was complaining
about my aches and pains to Norbert, and he proceeded
to pull the socking off of his foot and show me his
ankle, and show the serious football injury that changed
his life and resulted in him being the President of The
Arrow Shirt Company. I recall we read together Alma
40:23 where it says:
"The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body
to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be
restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall
not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their
proper and perfect frame."
In the next chapter, Alma 41:2 the scriptures teach us:
"I say unto thee, my son, that the plan of restoration
is requisite with the justice of God; for it is requisite
that all things should be restored to their proper order.
Behold, it is requisite and just, according to the power
and resurrection of Christ, that the soul of man should
be restored to its body, and that every part of the body
should be restored to itself."
In the next chapter, Alma 42:23 we are taught:
"But God ceaseth not to be God, and mercy claimeth the
penitent, and mercy cometh because of the atonement; and
the atonement bringeth to pass the resurrection of the
dead; and the resurrection of the dead bringeth back men
into the presence of God; and thus they are restored
into his presence, to be judged according to their works,
according to the law and justice."
In closing, I would like to end where I started, and say
by the power of the priesthood: Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, Norbert Schmidt was born of water and of the Spirit
and he has entered into the kingdom of God.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.']]>
Last night we went to a party for Primary Teachers and their
spouses (Andrea is now the Sunbeam Teacher, and one of her
two sunbeams is Johnathan Schmidt). Chris and Michelle were
there and they seemed to be more relaxed and at peace than
they have been for quite some time. Andrea is Michelle's
Visiting Teacher, and Matt and I are Chris and Michelle's
Home Teachers. The primary party was at John and Jennfer
Turners who live at 614 Park Knoll, which I believe is two
houses from Ben's soccer friend Jeremey. Neat house. Food
on all of the window sills, and various tables downstairs.
It was very nice night. Sister Saatkamp, the Primary
President, had everyone write down something about themselves
no one else knew. Then she read them and we all guessed who
it was about. I wrote: `I shot a badger.' Andrea wrote: `I
got sick after eating pizza at school in 4th grade and never
ate pizza again until college.' Then we started telling
funny stories. It was a really nice evening. Wish you all
could have been there to hear the stories and to have a
good laugh with us all. I know you would of all liked it.
I wish you all could have been with us on Wednesday too, to
think about the eternal, and to participate in the spiritual
feast at Norbert Schmidt's Funeral."
I'm interested in sharing weekly a "thoughtlet" (little statements
of big thoughts which mean a lot to me) with you because I know how
important the written word can be. I am concerned about how easy
it is to drift and forget our roots and our potential among all of
distractions of daily life. To download any of these thoughtlets
go to http://www.walden3d.com/thoughtlets or e-mail me at
rnelson@walden3d.com.
With all my love,
Dad
(H. Roice Nelson, Jr.)