Kenneth Wilden Schmitz

Kenneth Wilden Schmitz, age 101, died on December 14th, 2022. Kenneth was born on April 2, 1921 to Glenn Frederick Schmitz and Ethel Amerett Winey, in Mankato, Minnesota.

He is survived by 4 daughters, Trudy Field of Thayer, Janet (Alan) Wildrick of Bondurant, Becky (Jerry) Olson of Murray and Babby Schmitz of Bondurant; 8 grandchildren, Scott Field (Janelle) of Clarion, Shawn (Ali) Field of Thayer, Kim (Jeff) Tucker of Bondurant, Stacy Wildrick (Bill Beukema) of Urbandale, Kristin Peters of Bondurant, Jennifer (Michael) Westlake of Thayer, Jacob (Rose) Olson of Thayer, and Whitney (Ian) Tibboel of Bondurant; 9 great-grandchildren and 5 great- great- grandchildren; sisters Jean Stone, Joyce Evans, Coralee Johnson and Patty Osgood. He was preceded in death by his loving wife Bonnie, his parents, 5 sisters and 2 brothers and great grandsons Damon Olson and Jared Peters.

Kenneth left Mason City as a young man, and lived with family in Cotton Center, Texas. He enrolled in, and graduated from High School there, while also working the family farm. Those were many of his fondest childhood memories. A little piece of his heart was always in Texas.

He met the love of his life Bonnie while skating, and they married on December 6, 1944 and were married for 69 years before her passing in 2014.

Kenneth served proudly in the Navy during WWII. He was a machinist on the USS Takanis Bay. He joined the Navy on March 7th, 1942 and was honorably discharged on September 27th, 1945. He was very proud, but also humble about his service. He worked for many years in varying management capacities in the grocery business, at Thriftway Stores and Triangle Super Value in Des Moines. He moved on to doing auto body work, many of those years with his son-in-law, Alan.

In 1978, he and Bonnie bought the current homestead, and this is where he officially “retired” at 62. For the last 40 years, this is where he has pursued many of his hobbies and passions. He loved to putter around and be busy. He enjoyed gardening, continued doing occasional body work for neighbors and friends, traveled to Des Moines to provide help to a list of ladies that needed basic home maintenance or improvements done. He truly was a Jack of all trades.

One of his passions was carpentry/woodworking, and he shared those skills with some of his kids and grandkids. He made anything from the smallest picture frame to large furniture pieces that we will have for generations.

Kenneth was also still an avid learner. He loved to watch nature and science programs, and then discuss or quiz us on them once they were over. He was still in awe of new things, and while he may not have fully understood the technology, he loved to learn and discuss. Many times we’d get a phone call reminding us that something interesting was on, and that we should tune in and watch it. You knew discussion would follow, so it was like studying for a test!

He was also a lifelong teacher, whether it was showing us how to cook a meal, change a tire, plant the garden or create wood projects, he was quietly imparting his knowledge. He was surrounded by mostly women over the years, his wife, mother-in-law and 4 girls, and more granddaughters than grandsons. His teaching was not based on male/female jobs or abilities. If it needed doing, or you wanted to learn it, he’d teach you, and he made you feel as if you could do anything. This was a shared trait in both of our parents. You knew they were in your corner, no matter what.

Their support was unwavering.

Kenneth also had an innate love of music. From strumming the guitar or mandolin, to playing the harmonica, and most recently, learning how to use Alexa to play songs he wanted to hear. He may not have understood how it all worked, but he sure enjoyed the end result!

In these later years, he was happy to spend time with his family. Whether it was the whole group, where he would sit and observe the antics, or one on one with his girls, at the table, eating his famous cookies and playing Zilch, or sitting quietly on the sun porch just being together. He always wanted to make it to 100, and get on TV, and have his face on a Smucker’s jar, (which he did) and was further gifted with almost 2 more years of relatively good health.

The family would like to take this time to extend our heartfelt appreciation to the many doctors, nurses and hospice staff at VA of Central Iowa, who so lovingly, and honorably cared for Dad and for us during his illness. The level of compassion, respect and honor in which he was treated is profoundly appreciated.

Funeral services will be held at 12:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 20th, 2022 at Hamilton’s Altoona Funeral Home, 105 4th Street SW in Altoona, with burial to follow at Bondurant Cemetery. The family will greet friends on Monday evening from 4-6 p.m. at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the family in loving memory of Kenneth.

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