John Victor Schmidt

COLUMBUS, OH - John Victor Schmidt, 100, WOSU-TV personality, OSU Professor Emeritus and OSU Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, National Collegiate champion pole vaulter, National Tree Farmer of the Year 1989, and former Broadway performer, died peacefully on December 24, 2022 at his home in Sycamore Hills surrounded by family, two weeks shy of his 101st birthday. He was born on January 8, 1922, in Mt. Gilead, OH, the son of Jacob Philip Schmidt, an OSU Professor Emeritus and Ohio Cooperative Extension Service (OCES) agent, and Lorene (Peshak) Schmidt, a musician. John was the middle of three children, born between sisters Birdie and Joy, all three raised in Columbus, OH.

John began pole vaulting while on the Track and Field team at Upper Arlington High School, already an Ohio AAU champ before graduating in 1939. The first half of the next decade saw John productive at The Ohio State University where he majored in Music and Physical Education, performed in local theatre and on WOSU radio, was a baritone in the University Symphonic Choir, competed on the Track and Field team (team captain from 1944-1945), taught PE, and was a private investigator. As a star pole vaulter, John was on the All-American Track Team (1944-1945) and placed in competitions at the Chicago Relays, Big Ten, Ohio AAU, and NCAA Division I conferences. He was later inducted into the OSU Athletic Hall of Fame. John’s educational and sports career was interrupted in 1943 by WWII military service, training in Field Artillery at Ft. Bragg, NC. He returned to OSU in 1944 after a misdiagnosed burst appendix nearly ended his life.

Out of 300 applicants, John won the Catherine Long Scholarship to study at the Metropolitan Grand Opera in June 1945, traveling to New York that summer. As a lark, John tried out for (and booked) a role in an upcoming Broadway show due to open that fall, Polonaise. In that cast he met his future wife, Mary Woiceske, from Woodstock, New York, whom he would marry in August 1948 and would join him on tour with Brigadoon. In all, John performed in four Broadway shows in New York and on tour, often graduating to conducting the chorus and stage managing when not performing: Polonaise (1945-1946), Brigadoon (1947-1949), Out of This World (1950-1951), and Paint Your Wagon (1941-1953). During this time he worked alongside Agnes de Mille, Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe, Burl Ives, and Charlotte Greenwood, even studying for a time with Lee Strasburg. John continued to compete in Track and Field events during the runs of Polonaise and Brigadoon as well, helping to create publicity as the “track star turned chorus boy” in those shows.

After performing as one of the Men About Town quartet on CBS’s “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts” in 1953 and teaching in New Jersey, John and Mary moved their growing family in 1955 to Columbus, OH, where John resumed work at WOSU radio in anticipation of the launch of WOSU-TV in 1956. WOSU-TV premiered on February 20, 1956, and John was the first live person to be seen on the air at 3:40pm. He would continue to be seen and heard on WOSU-TV and radio for decades as a host, singer, and sports commentator, his official title growing from Announcer (1956) to Program Assistant (1957) to Supervisor of Special Programming (1958). Notable programs during this period include “Play By Play”, “Songs for a Summer Evening” (with his wife Mary), “Dateline OSU”, and “Kid’s Stuff”.

John resumed his studies at OSU while working for WOSU, attaining his B.S. in Vocal Music (1957) and M.A. in Radio & Television (1959). John began work as a TV Editor and Producer for the Ohio Cooperative Extension Service (OCES) in 1963, producing (and often writing, narrating, and appearing in) educational films covering topics from farm life to cooking to pesticides, that were distributed to twenty-three TV stations throughout Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia. His output totaled well over 300 films before his retirement in 1983. John also taught at OSU throughout this twenty-year period as well, achieving the Professor Emeritus title.

Upon his father’s sudden death in 1965, John took a more active role in managing Overlook Hills, the Schmidt family farm in Bainbridge, OH. The property has been utilized as a vacation destination as well as for the production of maple syrup. John and his wife Mary were named Ohio Tree Farmers of the Year in 1988 and National Tree Farmers of the Year in 1989, the final honor including a meeting with President George H. W. Bush in Washington, D.C. They were both proud members of the National and Ohio Forestry Associations and supporters of the 4-H Club.

John continued to perform after his retirement with Grandparents Living Theatre (later Senior Repertory of Ohio) from 1989 to 2016, most notably in their original production, I Was Young, Now I’m Wonderful!, in Columbus and on tour throughout the state and on special engagements in Florida and Germany. His acting work extended to improvised medical acting workshops with the OSU School of Medicine as well where he would pretend to suffer from various ailments as medical students would evaluate and diagnose him as part of their training exercises.

Predeceased by his wife of fifty-five years, John and Mary’s legacy includes five children: John P. (Val - deceased) Schmidt, Hilarie (Charles - deceased) Daniel, Fern (John) Beathard, Laurel (Charles) Berg, and William V. (Magally) Schmidt; nine grandchildren: Jacob, Betha, Jessie, Sarah, Charlotte, Ben, Isaiah, Johnny, and Alyssa; twelve great-grandchildren: Tyren, Evan, Daniel, Noah, Dominic, Michael, Cooper, Mary, Anderson, Adriana, Isabella, and Nicholas; from his sister Birdie, nephews Jay and Don; from his sister Joy, nieces and nephews Dale, Robert, Lore, Cindy, Betsy, and Carrie; many extended family members and friends; and Overlook Hills, the Schmidt family tree farm in Bainbridge, OH.

A Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, February 5, at 1:00 p.m. at First Community Church, 1320 Cambridge Blvd., Columbus, OH 43212.