Royal Schmidt

ROSLYN- Royal Schmidt, 78 of Roslyn died on Monday, June 22, 2009 at Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls. His funeral will be at 10:30 A.M. Friday, June 26, 2009 at Fron Lutheran Church near Roslyn. Janet Johnson will officiate. Burial with military honors by the Rudolph Baukol Post 253 will be at the church cemetery. Visitation will be at Fiksdal Funeral Service (fiksdalfuneral.com) in Webster on Thursday 5-7 P.M. and prior to services at the church. Royal Wayne Schmidt was born on Wednesday, December 17, 1930 to Paul and Nila (Krause) Schmidt at Webster, South Dakota. He was baptized at American Lutheran Church in Webster and later confirmed at Fron Lutheran Church. Royal lived with his parents and brother, Tubby on their family farm in Racine Township and attended his first six years of school at the three mile school in Racine Township. The family then moved to Independence Township near Roslyn where he finished elementary school. He finished high school through correspondence. In 1950 he joined the U.S. Navy and traveled all over the world, mostly stationed on air craft carriers, working on aircraft. He retired in 1980 in California with the rank of Senior Chief Aviation Structural Mechanic. He then worked as a glazer for some time and he then opened his own handyman service. On August 3, 1958 he married Jacqueline Wilig. His ready made family gave him two wonderful step daughters, Terry and Nancy, whom he loved dearly. Royal and Jackie made their home in San Diego, California until 1981 when they moved to Seaside, Oregon. Jackie passed away on December 25, 2007. Royal then made his way back to his roots in Roslyn, bought a house and became a resident in July 2008. He enjoyed spending time with his brother, Tubby and the rest of his family and friends. He also enjoyed having coffee and visiting at Rosie’s and Community Oil. You could find Royal traveling around town on his trustworthy 4-wheeler, which was a surprise, special delivery gift sent by his nephew, Scott. Royal passed away on Monday, June 22, 2009 at Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the age of 78 years, 6 months and 5 days. Grateful for having shared his life are his two daughters, Terry (Bob) Rogers of Seaside, OR and Nancy (Bill) Halterman of Marysville, WA; a brother, Tubby (Shirley) Schmidt of Roslyn, SD; six grandchildren, Curt, Bob, Jeanne, LouEllen, Allan & Sharla; four great grandchildren; two great great grandchildren; a favorite uncle to Keith, Marcia, Craig, Steve, and his many friends. Royal is loved and will be missed by many.