Darryl M Schmidt Obituary from the Lima News.
Darryl Schmidt
Darryl Schmidt, 60, died at 7:58 p.m. June 20, 2008, at St. Rita's Medical Center surrounded by his family and friends.
He was born July 17, 1947, in Lima to Maurice P. and Mary Eileen Schroeder Schmidt. His father survives in Lima. His mother preceded him in death.
Mr. Schmidt retired from the Ohio State University Lima Campus. He was an avid music fan who not only relished teaching and debating music with anyone who wanted to explore the subject with him, but loved the political arena and debating current events. His children and grandchildren were the love of is life, and he never hesitated talking about them and telling stories about them every time he had the chance. His passing is felt by all those he touched in his years, including his children, grandchildren, father, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews.
Survivors include a son, Bryan (Heather) Schmidt; a daughter, Emily Meyer; two grandchildren, Peyton Schmidt and Amber Griswold; six brothers, Tony (Nancy) Schmidt, Paul Schmidt, Larry (Nancy) Schmidt, Rick (Deb) Schmidt, Doug (Henriettia) Schmidt and Dan (Julie) Norberg; three sisters, Mary (Gary) Damien, Cindy (Allen) Altaffer and Suzy (Lee) Zanetti; and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by a sister, Kellyn Ann Schmidt Norberg.
A memorial service will begin at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Siferd-Orians Funeral Home.
Friends may call from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the funeral home.
Allen G Frantz recalls his buddy Darryl:
I've been searching for this shipmate for years, a lot of times, over many years. This is an unwelcome photo - yet bittersweet with the guitar cut into the stone.
Darryl and I met shortly after boot camp and were stationed together until our four year tours were completed. We trained as Photo Interpreters (PT) at our "A" School, located at the Lowery AFB, Denver, Colorado, in the combined Armed Services Air Intelligence Training Center.
Then just after our good fortune for Christmas 1966 leave, it was off to the promise of warm Florida sunshine and beaches. Our first "intelligent" assignment was to, NAS Sanford where the Savage Sons of Sanford, the RVAH-5 Reconnaissance Squadron was based. We were anxious to see this Mach 2+ aircraft, RA-5C Vigilante - the most expensive "winged camera" in the world. http://www.bobjellison.com/RA5C_Vigilante.htm
But, ten minutes after stepping off the airport bus we learned that the rest of the Savage Sons had left that morning and we were shipping out a few hours later that evening (Wha...?) to Norfolk, Virginia. We joined the clean-up detail and were told we were now part of the air-wing already on board the US Navy's newest Carrier, the USS America. She, and we, and 6,000 other sailors were departing in the morning bound for a nine month cruise to the Mediterranean Sea.
Plans can change at any time. I, personally, was in a slight bit of shock. Phones were still all connected by copper, there were no answering machines and nobody was answering at home. The Florida beaches would wait. The Mediterranean Sea. Wow. We were 19, excited, and honestly, a little scared. It was a BIG ship!
Do you know where you were for the Six-Day War of June 1967?
I do.
I was at my GQ duty station, with Darryl, and when we could we relaxed by learning how to play our new guitars. We were in the company of Jay, Alain, Al, John, Jim, Tom, Bruce, Jeff, Charlie and a lot of other great guys - wondering just where this war was going to go. We were in the middle of the flight deck - well, sort of. We were under just 6 inches of steel, one deck down. It was called IOIC, the Integrated Operational Intelligence Center. It was our enclave. A week of so before, several of us had stormed the ship's store and bought the same great acoustic guitar for $40! which they had picked up in Naples, Italy. A red haired fellow, Wayne, I think, from West Virginia taught us all how to pick and play. It was a needed diversion.
The next cruise went west, 1968-1969 West-Pac deployment to the Gulf of Tonkin. Vietnam.
After some time back in the states, at NAS Albany, Georgia, the new reconnaissance headquarters, we both finished our enlistments and went home.
"Stay in touch." "Sure will." I'm so sorry we didn't.
Years ago I had put his name and vitals - and a High School Senior Picture that I did find - into my Family Tree on Ancestry.com just to remember to keep up the search. Over a year ago I found a possible match and sent a message to the member asking more identification questions. Yesterday, to my surprise, Darryl's cousin in a short note confirmed I had the right Darryl. He married, had one child and then divorced, and that he was gone. He had no other information on his ex wife or his family.
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