Thomas B. Schmidt, Jr. passed away on Friday June 8, 2018. Born in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, on July 15, 1921, he was the second of six children of Thomas B. Schmidt, Sr. and Marie Johnson Schmidt, came of age in Paxtang, and attended Harrisburg Catholic High School. On October 7, 1944, he married Regina Kurbyweit, who passed away in June, 2012. Tom is survived by four children, eleven grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren: Thomas B. Schmidt, III and his wife Donna L. Fisher, and their sons Nicholas B. Schmidt and Nathaniel T. Schmidt; Karen S. Davis and her husband Charles R. Davis, their daughter Amanda D. Everly and her husband Thomas Everly (and their children Lynn and Thomas), their son Charles ("Tuck") R. Davis, Jr. and his wife Christen Davis (and their daughters Ella, Morgan, and Vivian), and their son Thomas R. Davis (and his son Jack); James R. Schmidt, his daughter Caitlin A. Brodie and her husband Zachariah Brodie (and their daughters Rya and Camilla), and his son Waite S. Schmidt; and Victoria S. Sporik and her husband Michael S. Sporik, their son Stephen J. Sporik, their son Daniel J. Sporik and his wife Caitlin M. Sporik, their daughter Kara S. Sessa and her husband Dominic A. Sessa (and their son Leo), and their son Christopher L. Sporik. Also surviving is Tom and Gina's foster daughter Elvira Lopez Greene. Tom and Gina's fifth child, Daniel, died shortly after his birth in 1950.
Tom graduated from Mount St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, Maryland, in 1943, completed officer's training in the U. S. Navy's V-12 program at the University of Notre Dame, and served in the European and Pacific theaters of World War II. After the War he joined his family's business, Capital Bakers, which had been established by his grandfather in 1891. Tom established his own business, Packaging Service, in 1959. He served on the Board of Trustees of Mount St. Mary's as it transformed itself into a thriving co-educational college. Indeed, he would never refuse a request to support education, from a small mission school to his alma maters.
Tom was an active member of St. Catherine Laboure parish. He was also a loyal member of the Harrisburg Country Club, where for many years he was involved with the selection and care of specimen trees on the golf course. He played there often, and also traveled widely to play golf on many of the famous courses in this country, England, and Scotland. He was a committed birder with a long life list. He cherished many friendships. He loved the green world, music, the written word, and learning a new thing, but none of these more than he loved his family.
A funeral mass will be celebrated at St. Catherine Laboure on Saturday, June 30, 2018, starting at 11:00 a.m. Tom's family asks that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to support Bishop McDevitt High School, Hospice of Central Pennsylvania, or the charity of the donor's choice.
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