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2007-03-06 issue:

No strangers in Fred's life

A tribute in memory of Fred Schmidt

by Margaret Loewen Reimer

Print Article

It was no surprise that Tabor Mennonite Church was packed for the funeral of Fred Schmidt, who died on Feb. 12, 2006, at the age of 58. Fred had grown up in the Goessel, Kan., community and was baptized at Tabor Church at age 15. Others knew him from his alternative service days or from his years in social services in Ontario.

What was a surprise, perhaps, were the moving tributes from people who had only met Fred briefly but considered him a friend.

One man recounted how he had met Fred at the cancer treatment center where his wife and Fred were receiving chemotherapy. The man recalled that when Fred entered the room he always greeted every person there, building a warm community in that fearful place.
“There was never a stranger in Fred’s life,” he said.

Another man who knew no one in the church got up enough nerve to come to the funeral but left right afterward, only to turn around and come back to pay tribute to his friend. He characterized Fred as someone who never judged people but accepted them as they were.

These men from outside the church community confirmed what many already knew: that Fred embodied the best of his Mennonite heritage. After a year of studies at Bethel College in North Newton, Kan., Fred was drafted by the U.S. military in 1966 to serve in the Vietnam War. Declaring his conscientious objection to war, he was assigned an alternative service term as an X-ray orderly in Fort Wayne, Ind. During this time he also worked as a Boy Scout leader, mentor and peace advocate in Fort Wayne’s inner city.

Another volunteer in Fort Wayne at the time was Jo-Ann Enns of Bethany Mennonite Church in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. Fred and Jo-Ann were married in 1968.

Fred was a modest man who enjoyed hard work. From 1972 to 1981, he and Jo-Ann lived in Ontario, where they served as group-home houseparents, employed by Ausable Springs Ranch. They had up to six boys in their care, along with their own three children. Fred was director of the Niagara Region Group Home program and spent two years as director of residential life for Bethesda Home in Vineland. He remained a shareholder in the Meaford Nursing Home in Ontario until his death.

In 1982, Fred and family returned to Goessel and helped run the family farm. In 1990, a tornado destroyed Iris Lane Dairy, and Fred went into the electrical business. He enjoyed his new work because it fulfilled his talent for problem solving and allowed him to meet new people.
Fred pursued everything with enthusiasm and dedication. Over the years he served as board chair of Bethesda Home in Goessel and was a deacon, Sunday school teacher and youth group sponsor at Tabor Church. He also enjoyed flying his ultralight, skiing and canoeing in Algonquin Park in Ontario. He loved all kinds of music, from bluegrass to opera.

In March 2002, Fred was diagnosed with lung cancer. The next years included many rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, but Fred also undertook hundreds of miles of cycling and running, often to raise money for Mennonite Central Committee. After the cancer metastasized to his brain in October 2003, fighting his illness became his “full-time job,” as he liked to say. His sense of humor seldom left him.

Fred considered every day of life a miracle and enjoyed traveling to Toronto often to see his two granddaughters, who were born after his diagnosis. He and Jo-Ann also managed to attend three Mennonite Church USA conferences during his last years: in Nashville, Atlanta and Charlotte.

Fred left to mourn Jo-Ann, his wife, and son Jeffrey of Newton, Kan.; daughter Rachel and husband James Cressman and children Nadine and Elliot of Toronto; and son Michael and wife Christina Reimer (my daughter) of Toronto. He also leaves his father, Rudy, stepmother Nola and two sisters and a brother, as well as parents-in-law John and LaVina Enns of Parkhill, Ont.

Margaret Loewen Reimer is a member of Rockway Mennonite Church, Waterloo, Ont.

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