Obituary

Bellingham, WA

Mary Ann Schmidtz, 77 of Bellingham, WA went to heaven on Dec 12, 2013 at Peace Health St Joseph Medical Center with her large family by her side after a second courageous battle with cancer. Mary Ann was born March 20, 1936 to Anton and Mary (Jeager) Langer in Staples MN. She was the youngest of 11 children. Funeral Mass was Wednesday Dec 18 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church Bellingham WA, with Reverend Joseph Altenhofen officiating. Burial was at Greenacres Memorial Park, Ferndale WA. Moles Greenacreas Funeral home handled the arrangements, Ferndale WA.

Mary Ann graduated from Staples High School in 1954. While working as a telephone operator in Staples, she went to a dance in Pierz and met the love of her life Eugene F. Schmidtz. After 21 hours together, and 6 months of writing letters, they were married on May 2nd, 1956, and blessed with 57 years of marriage.

Her greatest gift was as a devoted housewife, mother and grandmother. As a model Navy Wife, she faithfully followed Gene to seven duty stations and moved the household many more times during his 26 year US Navy career. She lovingly supported him and raised the family when he was called to duty on numerous extremely long deployments. She cherished the friendships and extremely close ties she created with other Navy families and missed them greatly after retirement. She graciously set an extra plate at the table for the Sailors who were far from home or anyone who visited.

Mary Ann was a woman of strong faith and lived it daily. She taught unselfish love and strong morals to her family. She always knew how to nurse someone back to health or just plain make you feel better with her tender care. Her laugh and smile melted you. Everyone felt loved and safe with her. She added a special touch to everything she did. She kept an amazingly clean and warm welcoming home. She was an excellent cook, canned and taught all who wanted to learn. She baked special favorite dishes and cookies as treats. She sewed beautifully tailored clothes for years. Her homemade quilts and knitted afghans are coveted by all who received them as gifts. Her flower gardens were beautiful. She hunted, fished and camped, making wonderful memories for all. There wasn’t anything she couldn’t do. She enjoyed watching soap operas, reading and good jokes. She was a very graceful ice skater, and would glide on the ice. Her greatest joy was her children and grandchildren. She loved the babies! She was so proud of all of them and the biggest cheerleader for everyone’s life accomplishments.

Thankful for having shared her life are her husband Eugene F. Schmidtz, of Bellingham WA, five children – Mary Jo and Rich Cervantes of Camarillo, CA; Theresa and Michael Dean of Lynden WA; Karen Schmidtz and Chris Donlin of Pickstown, SD; David and Sharon Schmidtz of Ferndale, WA and Sandy and Bryan Velkinburg of Snohomish, WA. Ten grandchildren, and spouses and 5 great-grandchildren. Two sisters, Florence Hoen (91) of Wildomar, CA. and Loretta Madden (85) of White Bear Lake MN. Numerous nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents and brothers and sisters John, Helen, Joe, Dorothy, Kay, Ben, Anthony, and Clarence. 7, God Bless You and Rest In Peace and joy Tootsie, Mom, Grandma, Great-Grandma. Your work is done. Thank you for all your love. We thank God for you, and know you are always with us in Spirit. We will live on through you and know we’ll all meet again in heaven some day.