East Perry County, Missouri lost a great guy this past weekend, and heaven received another saint. Delbert Schmidt died this past Sunday at the ripe, old age of 98. Until then, he was the oldest living member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. I am going to make an effort to tell just a little bit about his life story in this post today. I, by no means, feel that I am the best qualified person to tell his story, but I will make an effort to do so. I am going to attempt to write some of this post in the same manner that I would write the story of others who have been found on this blog.
Delbert Norman Schmidt was born on April 5, 1928, the son of Martin and Leah (Bachmann) Schmidt. Delbert was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. An image of his baptism record is displayed here.
Delbert is found in his first census entry in the 1930 census. He was 2 years old, and his father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.
Next, we find Delbert in the 1940 census at the age of 12. By this time, there were 4 children in the Schmidt household.
Delbert was confirmed at Trinity, Altenburg in 1941. His confirmation record is pictured here.
I am able to display this photo of Delbert’s confirmation class. Rev. Adolph Vogel was the pastor at the time when Delbert was confirmed. Delbert is sitting in the front row on the far left.
This is a list of the members of that 1941 confirmation class. I cannot begin to identify them in the photograph, but perhaps some local oldtimers can do so.
Delbert had a World War II draft card completed when he was just 18 years old. That must mean that this was completed around 1946, which would have been after World War II was already over. I think forms like this were completed until 1947.
The 1950 census shows Delbert still single and living with his parents. He was 22 years old at the time and helping his father on his farm.
Delbert served in the military during the Korean War, but I do not know if he served there before or after he got married.
Delbert Schmidt married Dolores Rauh on November 17, 1951. As you would expect, they were married at Trinity Lutheran Church. We can view this couple’s church marriage record below.
We can also take a look at Delbert and Dolores’s marriage license.
Delbert and Dolores had two daughter, Peggy and Sally. This photo shows this Schmidt family much later in their lives.
Both Delbert and Dolores served as docents at our museum for many, many years. Delbert was still found serving at the museum well into his 90’s. When our new South Gallery was opened a few years back, Delbert had the honor of cutting the ribbon for that occasion.
Delbert’s obituary gives several other details about his life. You can read it by clicking on the link below.
Below is a photo taken of Delbert and Dolores when they were spending the day as docents at our museum.
Delbert was always a fan of the game of baseball, In his younger days, he played the game, as is evidenced by the photo shown below of the Altenbug Panzers, and later as a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals.
For a lot of years, Dolores Schmidt would show up to help decorate Christmas trees at our museum. Delbert would always show up, too, because he did not want his bride to go up on a step ladder without him holding it. I always considered the sight of him holding that ladder as a sign of his great love and care for his wife.
Delbert was a great storyteller. Many of his stories were about one of his great loves…fishing. I remember asking him one day about where he went fishing. He got this funny smirk on his face and said, “In the water.” He was not about to give away the location of his favorite fishing spot. Delbert could always get a smile out of me.
Delbert will be missed. Our museum was incredibly blessed over the years by his dedicated service.