George John Schmitt

George was born July 7th, 1930 in Hamilton, Ohio to George and Elizabeth Schmitt and was the younger brother of John and older brother to Mary.

George grew up a self proclaimed "city kid" in Hamilton playing baseball with his childhood friend Joe Nuxhall of Cincinnati Reds fame and causing mischief when the opportunity presented itself. George always liked to tell the story of never holding a pencil until he started school and asking the teacher "what am I supposed to do with this thing?". George attended parochial school and Hamilton Catholic High School and was a star athlete lettering in baseball, basketball and football. He was a member of the team that played in the Ohio state championship game in basketball in 1948 and always liked to tell the story of Adolph Rupp attending the basketball team banquet after the season and inviting him to the University of Kentucky to try out for the team. George received a basketball scholarship to the University of Cincinnati and received a degree in mechanical engineering from Xavier University.

During high school, his family "moved to the farm" and he fell in love. George happened to catch a ride one day from Ed Zimmerman despite his sister Shirley telling Ed not to pick George up because he had broken her boyfriend's leg in a high school football game. George and Shirley started a journey that day that lasted over 62 years, were married in 1953 and became parents in July of 1968 with the birth of their daughter Jillanne Brendel and she was the apple of his eye from that day forward.

George was drafted into the Army, where he spent time in Japan near the end of the Korean War. George and Shirley & Ed and Susan Zimmerman bought a farm together in 1961 in Delaware, Ohio raising crops, hogs and livestock and it is still being farmed today by his nephew Ed Zimmerman, III.

In 1975, George, Shirley and Jill moved to Bristol, TN where George worked at Bristol Compressor until he retired in 1995. While in Bristol, he made many dear friends and was known around town as the guy who could fix Volkswagens and always had one in the driveway that needed his attention.

He and Shirley moved to Oldham county, Kentucky in 1998 to be near his daughter and grand-daughter Hannah Raggard and son-in-law Rick Raggard.

In 2011, He welcomed a new son-in-law (Wayne) and grandson (Austin) into his home and family and in 2012 another grandson (Chase) came along and became his "ole pal".

Never one to be idle, George enjoyed and encouraged hobbies. He loved to watch his grand-daughter play softball, built wooden ships, worked in the yard, collected many things and made it a tradition of seeing the Oak Ridge Boys in concert at the Kentucky State Fair every year. A kid at heart, one of George's favorite things to do after retiring was decorating the house every year for Christmas and won the neighborhood decorating contest numerous times and was already working on topping his win in 2018.

George was preceded in death by his parents, his beloved wife (Shirley Lou Zimmerman Schmitt), his brother John Schmitt, his sister Mary Dickerson (Dave) and nephew Mark Schmitt.

He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law (Jill and Wayne Richards); his grand-children (Hannah Raggard, Austin Richards, and Chase Richards); his sister-in-law Marianne Schmitt; his brother and sister-law Buddy and Sylvia Zimmerman; his nephews (Ed Zimmerman (Lori), III; Chris Zimmerman and John Schmitt(Ann); his nieces Jenny (Dave) Morris, Lisa Vennefron, Theresa Schmitt (Larry Lewis), Melinda Motley (Tim), Tina Deppe (Fred); and Marty Dickerson (Mickey Condon); and many great-nephews and nieces and several great-great nephews and nieces. He leaves behind wonderful memories with his beloved family, friends, neighbors, and his sweet little Sophie dog.

His life will be celebrated this Friday, November 8th with visitation from 4:00-8:00 pm and funeral Saturday, November 9th at Heady-Radcliffe Funeral Home in Lagrange, Kentucky at 10am. Graveside services will be at 1:30 pm Saturday at Darrtown Cementary in Darrtown, Ohio.