Otto Schmidt

He is preceded in passing by his beloved wife, Margarete Schmidt; parents, Adolf and Olga; sister, Reinelde; and son-in-law, Axel Weiser.

Otto is survived by his children, Susanne Weiser, Ronald (Kate) Schmidt; grandchildren, Matthias, Mark, and Kevin Schmidt, and Samantha, Joshua and Melissa Schmidt; step-grandchildren, Nicole Knight-Schrupp, Alexis Knight Moore, and Kyle Knight; 7 great-grandchildren; and brother, Willi Schmidt.

Service in Pueblo, Colorado later this spring - details forthcoming. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared below for the Schmidt family.

Otto's Life Story: I was born in Ludwikowo, Poland February 7, 1935. My father, Adolf, and mother, Olga, owned a farm that they worked in Ludwikowo. I am the younger brother of Willi and Reinelde. Ludwikowo is near the town Inowrocław, Poland.

When World War II broke out my father went into the German military. In 1945 my mother, brother, sister and I tried to leave Poland, but was unsuccessful. After that we were separated as a family and forced into labor camps. I was able to be with my mother at a farm work camp. But my brother and sister had to go to work at a farm near Poznań, Poland. My mother and I were not able to keep in contact with my brother and sister during the whole time in the labor camps.

My father, after being discharged from a US war imprisonment camp in France, was able to settle and buy a small farm in Heiligengrabe, Germany. It wasn’t until 1949 that my mother and I were able to leave Poland and be reunited with my father in Heiligengrabe. Upon our arrival in Heiligengrabe my mother and I were very surprised to see my brother and sister were also able to leave Poland and make it to our new home there. While living in Heiligengrabe I did a lot of different jobs. My jobs ranged from working in the farmers' fields, to working with my father in the forest around Heiligengrabe. I also worked with my brother at the Farmers Cooperative.

In December 1955 my sister was married in Hannover Germany. I went to the wedding and decided to settle there in the city, I was about 20 years old at the time. I found a variety of work in Hannover. At first, I worked for a theater company delivering production supplies for the different sets. And you know as they say, theater business is real “cut throat” and I didn’t have a long time in the theater, only a couple of months. After that I worked in a sawmill stacking lumber and straightening out the lumber yard. I did that for about a year. My next job was in the warehouse of the Continental Tire Company, where I operated the elevators that moved the parts and supplies to different areas of the warehouse.

In 1957, my cousin introduced me to Margarete Jäehnert from Hemmingen, Germany. She was a beautiful woman who worked at the Woolworths store in Hannover. I could not resist her charm so in January 1960 in Hemmingen, Germany I married her.

I had a cousin, Harry Lidke, who settled to Chicago, Illinois a few years earlier. He told Margarete and I of the opportunities that were available in the United States of America. So, Margarete and I, being of the adventurous types, decided that United States would be a great place to start our lives together. My cousin Harry sponsored us and we left Hannover and immigrated to Chicago in August 1960.

My first Job in the United States was at Goodman Leathers. I worked at the tanning of the cow hides. After working at the leather company, I got a job at a construction company where my cousin Benno Schmidt worked also. I worked there for about three years. After the three years at the construction company, I went to work as custodian of an apartment complex in the city of Chicago. And in May of 1963 my daughter Susanne was born. A little more than four years later, in September 1967, my son Ronald was born.

After our children were born, Margarete and I thought that raising our children in the suburbs would be better for them. So, in 1968 we moved out of the city and moved into a house in Deerfield, Illinois. I started a new job also, it was back in construction. I drove a truck for Sissel Construction Company, delivering supplies and equipment all over the greater Chicago area. We lived in Deerfield for about 10 years. We had a few family members move out to colorful Colorado from the Chicago area. Margarete and I liked the wide-open spaces and fell in love with the mountains. So, we decided to move out also. We moved to Pueblo West in August of 1978.

Unfortunately, Margarete passed away on February 2, 2003. I lived in Pueblo West, Colorado a total of 42 years and the last two years of my life I spent living with my son and daughter-in-law and extended family in Oak Grove, Minnesota. I have 6 grandchildren. Three grandsons are from my daughter Susanne; Matthias, Mark, and Kevin. Three are from my son Ronald; Samantha, Joshua, and Melissa. While living here I’ve worked in construction, mostly working with my cousin Benno Schmidt and also for my good friend Richard Baum. We have worked on a lot of the buildings in and around Pueblo and the southern Colorado area.