Hello, my name is James Joseph Schmidt. Many of you probably know me better as Jim, James, Jimmy or JJ. Since this memo is showing up in the obituary pages, well you guessed it, I have passed away.
My life started on March 8th, 1937. I was the youngest of 13 brothers and sisters born on a ranch in Flasher, ND. My parents were Matt and Eva Schmidt. After graduating from Richardton, I spent a couple of years in the Army. Upon returning from the Army, I married Marcy Fried. We had 4 children together. Later in life, I married Sheri Sumpter, we had 2 children together.
We bought lake property on Lake Eunice which brought numerous memories involving swimming, fishing skiing, etc. Also during this time I became an entrepreneur venturing out on my own as the owner of Taylor Trailer Sales. This was an exciting time for me as I continued to spend time with my first 4 children and also ventured into the music world with Sheri and our 2 young children. Our newly formed band was called the Family Ramblers.
Sheri and I also spent many winters in Mexico and Arizona getting away from the northern snow drifts and still playing music. We eventually settled into the community of Surprise, AZ becoming snow birds for many winters. I kept myself busy with many hobbies and business adventures to include leather tooling, Taxidermy, horse shoeing, owning vending machines, auctioneering, training horses, calf roping (I was the #1 contestant for a year). I also cherished the fall deer hunting season. This was a great group of sons, grandkids and a few special friends. We hunted hard and played even harder with many memories of these hunts.
During all of this my family kept growing to include sons and daughters, Kevin (Debby), Sid (Debbie), Scott (Lorie), Debbie (Todd), Jesse (Angela) and Charmaine (Cory English). Grandchildren, Travis, Gavin, Kelsey, Kolby, Seth, Sheena, Christine, Jagger, Paisley, Justine, Jackson and Johanna. Great Grandchildren, Canyon, Everest and Drake.
As you can see my life was filled with family, adventure, travel and friends to keep me grounded with all that I have accomplished.
My celebration of my life event will be postponed until a later date after the Covid concerns preside.
Until then keep myself and the great family that I have raised and loved in your thoughts and prayers until we can meet for one more time to remember the good times with me………..Jim, James, Jimmy, JJ Schmidt.
West Funeral Home & Life Tribute Center
westfuneralhome.com
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