Otto William Schmidt, Jr., age 95, passed away on Thursday, the 24th of October 2013, in Houston. He was born in Cameron, Texas, on the 29th of November 1917, to Otto William Schmidt and Elsa Broesel Schmidt.
Otto attended school in Giddings, Texas. In 1937, he graduated from Giddings High School where he played football and was President of the Senior Class. Otto worked for the Texas State Highway Department for three years in a crew surveying highways in the Austin area. He was a sophomore at the University of Texas on the 7th of December 1941. He immediately enlisted in the United States Navy where he was assigned to the Seabees building an air base at Reykjavik, Iceland. Later he attended Notre Dame University. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as an officer to skipper an LCT with a crew of 14. His LCT transported ammunition from a supply ship to the Marines on the beach at Iwo Jima on D+3.
Otto returned to the University of Texas at Austin in 1946. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree with honors in 1947. Otto was employed at Humble Oil (now ExxonMobil.) At UT Austin he met Mildred Steed, and they were married on the 12th of June 1948. Their two children, Mark and Karen, are Bellaire residents. In 1987, Karen married Charles Bearden, and their daughter, Halla, is now a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania.
After 34 years, Otto retired from Exxon in January 1982. Otto was an avid fisherman, a skilled craftsman, a successful gardener, and an enthusiastic supporter of the Texas Longhorns. He and Mildred traveled extensively in the U.S. and Canada. They joined Bellaire United Methodist Church in January of 1955 and were active there throughout the years.
Otto is survived by his wife, Mildred; son, Mark Schmidt; daughter, Karen Schmidt and husband Charles Bearden; and granddaughter, Halla Lee Bearden. He was predeceased by his parents; brother, Dr. Henry Schmidt of Texas City, and two sisters, Louise Adkins and Elsie Sump.
A memorial service is to be conducted at half-past ten o’clock in the morning on Saturday, the 28th of December, in the sanctuary of Bellaire United Methodist Church, 4417 Bellaire Boulevard, where Rev. Jim Flagg, Senior Pastor, is to officiate.
Contributions in Otto’s memory may be directed to Bellaire United Methodist Church, 4417 Bellaire Blvd., Houston, TX, 77401; or to the charity of one’s choice.
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