Schmidt, Ethel Ellen (1919-2008)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2008 Sep 15 p. 9

Birth date: 1919 Dec 21

text of obituary:

ETHEL ELLEN SCHMIDT

Ethel Ellen Schmidt, 88, of rural Walton, Kan., died April 12, 2008, at Bethesda Home in Goessel. She was born Dec. 21, 1919, to Rudolph B. and Susie Voth Schmidt in Newton.

She graduated from Walton High School in 1937 and Bethel College in 1945 with a degree in music education. She received a master’s degree in music education from the University of Wichita in 1956.

Her teaching career of 43 years began with Marion County schools Waldeck, Sand Creek and Goessel. From there she went on to teach at Plains, Kiowa, Oakley, Mount Hope, Peabody, Arkansas Avenue and Oxford, often teaching elementary and middle school music. In Wichita she taught at Minneha, Payne and Park schools.

She served as organist and pianist at Tabor Mennonite Church, accompanist for the Walton Mennonite Church men’s chorus and choir director at Plains Methodist Church. She taught Bible and Sunday school at Tabor and was a junior high retreat leader for Western District Conference.

She was a private piano teacher, accompanist at Sand Creek School and the original director/accompanist for the Guhr Brothers Quartet. She received awards for reading, spelling, piano and a piano scholarship. Later in her teaching career she received recognition from Kansas State University for her years of teaching and a certificate of merit in Wichita public schools.

She was a loving, generous, soft-spoken and pleasant person with a beautiful smile and high soprano voice. Her nephews and niece remember her as a mentor and teacher of crafts and art, including shell craft, jewelry making, lapidary, silversmithing, sewing, counted cross stitch, embroidery, knitting and crocheting, leather tooling, Swedish weaving and rug making.

Survivors include her brother, Esley Schmidt of Agricola; and her sister, Hildred, of Walton.