Schmidt, Leonard Aaron (1958-1974)

Mennonite Brethren Herald obituary: 1974 June 14 p. 37

Birth date: 1958 March 2

text of obituary:

LEONARD AARON SCHMIDT

Leonard was born to Daniel and Marie Schmidt of Abbotsford, B.C. area on a beautiful spring morning, March 2, 1968. He was always a very active boy, even as a toddler. He attended Upper Sumas School for seven years, and was this year in grade 10 at Yale Junior High. He was not an exceptional student but he was always in the midst of fun, noise, laughter and mischieveousness,

One night when Lenny was about 10 he came to his parents, wanting to make sure that his way to heaven was charted right . They shared John VI 6 aruJ.lI Cor. 5: 17 with him . Slowly t hey began to notice that his faith in Chris t was changing his attitudes t.owa rd life. }Jis family often remarked about his cheerfulness. his uniq ue sense of humor and his' willingness to help on "the" fa rm or in the kitchen. No one seemed to know how to ma ke popcorn as well as ~ did, and they enjoyed wat.ching the "Waltf-m Family " on TV munching on Lenny's popcorn. He also loved to travel. In 1972 the Schmidt.s took Lenny along as they toured the Sout.h Pacific Rim a nd visited many interes ting countries . He especially enjoyed his fi vp weeks in the jungles of lI;tdonesia, findin g no difficulty playing with his new na ti ve Dya k friends . swimming in the river, trek king -from village to village, eating rice and chickml and sleeping on har-d wooden floors in a longhouse. Lenny was an active boy who loved swimming , cycling, camping, skating and skiing . In .school he belonged to the "Leader 's Club." He went to be with the Lord .Jan uary :3, a t the age of 15. li e lea ves to mourn his sudden departure his pa rents , Daniel atld Marie Schmidt; four brothers: Vic , Lawrence and fiancee Janice, Da vid , a nd Orlie; two sisters: Margaret and hus ba nd John Bartel rind Sheryl; grandparents : Daniel D. Schmidts and William Wienses; as well as many uncles 'and aunts, cousins a nd friends . (We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our many friends and relatives for their kind expressiuns of sympal.hy, and the many beautiful cards and lett.ers we received_ It is impossible to acknowledge them all, though we would like to write you each a personal note_ We also want to thank you for the Bibles that were donated in memory of Len and the money donated to the Dyak Memorial Fund in his memory, Dan and Mary Schmidt