Kelly Michael Schmidt

A memorial service will be held Saturday, July 30, 2022 at Blount & Curry Funeral Home – Carrollwood in Tampa, Florida. Kelly was born on November 14, 1968, in Burns Flat, Oklahoma to Dennis (Denny) and Penny Schmidt. His father was the President of Open Bible College for most of his career located in Iowa and Oregon where Kelly spent his elementary and high school years. Kelly spent summers in Florida with both sets of his grandparents and enjoyed fishing and tinkering with his grandfather’s various inventions and projects. He joined the U.S. Air Force in 1986 as an Emissions Specialist and was honorably discharged after 7 years of service. During that time, he was stationed at Pope AFB in Fayetteville, North Carolina, MacDill AFB in Tampa, FL and completed an overseas assignment at Andersen AFB in Guam, Micronesia.

After the Air Force, Kelly managed Billing/Quality Assurance Call Center operations for several health care organizations for the last 25 years, most recently with Optum360, a United Health Group organization. He was a charter member of the Krewe of Hillsborough (KOH) in Tampa, Florida since its inception in 1998 where he held several positions, including “Beer Guy” for the parades, board member, chairing various parades and serving as treasurer for KOH. Most importantly, it was through KOH that he met and married fellow Krewe member, Kristy Duffy Schmidt. Kelly loved NASCAR racing and was a huge fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Lightning. He enjoyed spending time with family and friends plus planning bucket list vacations to unique locations. He was an avid car enthusiast and spent weekends focused on the various muscle cars he owned over the years. Kelly is survived by his wife of 12 years, Kristy Duffy Schmidt, his parents, Denny & Penny Schmidt of Ocala, FL, brother Michael of Charlotte, NC as well as his children, son Robert Gates (age 34) of Chicago, IL and daughters Lauren Schmidt (age 25) and Isabella Schmidt (age 11) of Tampa, FL. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in Kelly’s memory may be made to Chapters Health System benefitting Melech Hospice House of Tampa, where he received care in his final days https://www.chaptershealth.org/for-volunteers-donors/ and/or Moffitt Cancer Center where he was treated and supported throughout his cancer journey https://give.moffitt.org/site/Donation2?1722.donation=form1&df_id=1722&mfc_pref=T&_ga=2.140004659.1409918307.16582457401357795308.1647097500&_gac=1.219292139.1658253209.CjwKCAjwrNmWBhA4EiwAHbjEQFgyx9J5u1hZNAsRGe89g6BS8koshVxSAUYP-TZswovJU41MwPeGhhoC_UkQAvD_BwE