Glenna Mae Schmidt

Glenna Mae Schmidt, 85, of Bowie, Maryland, died 21 December 2013 at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Maryland. Glenna was born 18 November 1928 in Axtell , Kansas, the first child of Lela M. Wolf and Thomas H. Baker.

In her youth she played piano, basketball, delivered newspapers, and enjoyed cooking. At the age of 14 Glenna met her future husband, Lyle Edward Schmidt of Smittyville, Kansas. She attended Kansas State University before marrying in 1949. She enjoyed teaching elementary school in Wamego, Kansas until Lyle was called by the U.S. Air Force to fulfill his ROTC obligation.

Together Lyle and Glenna served their country traveling the world to numerous duty locations including Wichita, KS; Omaha, NE; Colorado Springs, CO; Long Island, NY; French Morocco, Africa; Wiesbaden and Bonn Germany; Boston MA; and Washington, DC. She turned drab military housing into comfortable homes for her family. While in Germany she developed a passion for painting and was lucky to have received lessons from a popular German artist, Herr Hirschfeld and quickly excelled painting canvas oils. To the delight of Lyle, many of her paintings prominently decorated their homes and will remind her family of the joy she brought to every endeavor.

She also enjoyed gardening, flower arranging, home decorating, dancing, and most of all, the love of her family and friends. She rearranged the furniture so often that Lyle put his foot down after returning to the bedroom in the middle of the night unable to find the bed.

For over four decades, Glenna played a major role in the success of the family wedding photography business. In addition, she worked part-time for Hallmark from 1977 to 2007 displaying greeting cards at various stores including the U.S. Naval Academy Midshipmen Exchange. This took her back into her military surroundings which gave her great satisfaction.

She was always dedicated to her family and at the end of the day, when her life was done, she was Wife, Mom, Oma and Über Oma. That was all she ever wanted and all that ever mattered to her.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 62 years; brother Wesley C. Baker; brothers-in-law, Dennis and Ernest Schmidt, Earl Quigg; sister-in-law, Margaret Quigg; and son-in-law Stephen Hoffman. She is survived by three children Vicki, Bruce and Lori; six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Glenna Schmidt will be remembered during visitation beginning at 11 a.m. with funeral services at 1 p.m. Monday, 30 December at Robert E. Evans Funeral Home, 16000 Annapolis Road, Bowie, MD 20715 (301-464-8836), followed by burial at 2 p.m. in Cheltenham Veterans Cemetery, 11301 Crain Highway, Cheltenham, Maryland 20623.

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations in memory of Glenna Schmidt to the Wounded Warrior Project, PO Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675 or the Fisher House Foundation, 111 Rockville Pike, suite 420, Rockville, MD 20850 or visit http://www.fisherhouse.org/.