Richard D. Schmidt, Jr.

Our dad, Dick, told us days before he died that he would miss most his family, football, friends and food. We found a note days after he passed that he had written on an old Executone notepad he’d kept from his days when he sold hospital communications systems. He wrote his idea of a perfect day. In my dad's writing, the note read, “cold beer, hot juicy cheeseburger, football on TV, and Carolyn by my side.”

Dick was born June 27, 1930, to Richard and Carol Schmidt, Sr. in New Jersey, where he grew up an only child. He attended Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, where he was a Delta Upsilon brother, and over the years lived in New Jersey, Colorado and Arizona. He passed away on Feb. 26, 2023, at home in east Mesa, Ariz.

He was 92½ years old. He loved the life he lived and shared with “Carolyn by his side.” They shared 27 years together with a combined 10 children, 20 grandchildren and 25 great grandchildren. He was proud of his family and loved family reunions.

Dad was honored to be a Lehigh University graduate who led the Arizona alumni group and proudly boasted that his son, Curt, and grandchildren, Alivia, Josh and his wife, Jill, also graduated from Lehigh.

Dick was a hard worker with an indomitable spirit, never retiring until he quit driving cars for enterprise at the age of 90. Always volunteering to better the community, he influenced positive change through his service in parks and recreation and was instrumental in developing the dog park here in Fountain Hills. He always offered words of wisdom and advice drawn from his decades of life experience, and he enjoyed helping others succeed.

Dick appreciated meeting people and it seemed he never met a stranger. He would talk sports, politics, business and history with anyone who listened. He loved to travel and had visited all 50 states. He shared his love of the Southwest, especially the Grand Canyon, whenever family and friends would visit. He liked American history, was patriotic, well-read, enjoyed music, was a gregarious storyteller with a sense of humor, and Dick was a doting husband, a loyal friend, and our Dad, Grandpa D and Great Grandpa.

Dick, Dad, Grandpa D, Great-Grandpa is greatly missed by his wife, Carolyn, and by his children and stepchildren and their spouses, Curt (Kathy), Dede (Keith), Jana (Andy), Jennifer (Glenn), Teddi, Teresa (Steve), Lisa (Phil), Susan (Chris), Sharon (Scott), and Jenn (John), and his 20 grandchildren and 25 great grandchildren. We will miss his stories, his guidance, his generosity and his love here on earth.

At his request, a celebration of life will be held in Dick’s honor as opposed to traditional funeral services. We invite all who knew him to join us for cold beer and hot cheeseburgers to celebrate his remarkable life at the home of Lisa Jones in Westbrook, Maine, on Saturday, June 17, at 11 a.m.