When Jacqueline Schmidt walked into the room, those in her company felt energy, an enthusiastic spontaneity. This was just one example of who Jacqueline was and how she impacted those around her. Jacqueline was a clever and gregarious person who always sought out the finest attributes in other people. It was as if Jacqueline wanted to share all of their experiences, revel in their lives and celebrate their discoveries. Jacqueline was tireless and had boundless enthusiasm that would serve her well throughout her life.
Jacqueline was born on October 13, 1933 at St. Mary's Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. She was the daughter of Christopher and Marguerite Stokes. Jacqueline was raised in Brooklyn and Breezy Point, New York. Always at the ready with a good joke, she grew up to be quite a humorous person. While some who knew Jacqueline might describe her as an idealist, her friends and family understood well that Jacqueline was always in pursuit of life’s endless possibilities and opportunities available to her.
Jacqueline was raised with six silblings. She had brothers Christopher,Thomas, John and sisters Patricia, Audrey,and Marguerite. Jacqueline was very accepting and supportive of her family. She was perceived as the central person in her family in terms of keeping communication open between the family members. Whenever discord or tension arose within the home, Jacqueline was typically the member who brought about resolution and harmony. These traits served Jacqueline well in her adult life and, along with her wit, outgoing personality, and understanding of others, drew the admiration of many who knew her.
As a young girl, Jacqueline was able to empathize and identify with a vast array of people and personality types. This quality drew her into a diverse group of friends and acquaintances. Jacqueline was intelligent and had little trouble getting along with her peers. She was almost always the first to jump in when it came to playing games or participating in other childhood activities. Jacqueline took part in after school dancing at the civic center at school and friday night recreation hall dance at a catholic church in Brooklyn. In her spare time she liked movie and entertainment magazines and also enjoyed fashion. Jacqueline's memorable achievements included making her baby sister a paper easter basket, and later gave her a hand-me-down doll house. Jacqueline had the ability to find amusement with almost any activity she and the many childhood friends she shared might discover.
During her high school years, Jacqueline responded enthusiastically to any new project and was regularly in search of one adventure after another. She graduated from Midwood High School in left high school to go to bussiness school in 1951. Jacqueline was a very good student, and generally did well in her courses. Jacqueline absorbed as much as she could from all of her teachers and was consistently able to tackle conceptual and abstract problems, using her imagination to master her assignments. For Jacqueline, school often became just an extension of playtime, thanks to her ability to turn just about anything into a game. Classmates considered Jacqueline a good listener, knowing that when necessary, they could go to her to discuss just about anything. Her favorite class in high school was lunch and recess. The teacher she least enjoyed learning from the most was Mrs. Ross who would regularly embarassed her and then she threw an ink bottle at her.
With a talent for making acquaintances easily which in turn brought her an endless stream of friends, Jacqueline was very sociable and could blend without effort into any social group. Assertive and outgoing, Jacqueline was easy to know and demonstrated a deep concern for others. She always seemed aware of what was going on with people around her and throughout her life she made many, many friends. While growing up, some of her best friends were Irene and Marilyn Beakman as well as Betty Thompson. Later in life, she became friends with Jean Pscholka, Mary Burns and Kathleen Bloom.
On October 6, 1956 Jacqueline married Raymond John Schmidt at Mary Queen of Heaven Catholic Church of Brooklyn, New York. Jacqueline's skill at “building bridges” played an important role in her ability to make her new family happy. She was quite sensitive towards Raymond's needs, showing her constant concern and fondness. Jacqueline was tender hearted and sensitive, qualities that served her well in helping to nurture her family.
Jacqueline was a natural and creative parent who was willing to provide her family with all sorts of new and interesting experiences. For Jacqueline, parenting was a particularly enjoyable and pleasurable part of her life. Every activity, from chores to bedtime routines, became a game in the Schmidt home. Jacqueline's skill at understanding her children's feelings, her sensitivity to their needs, and her gift for gentle persuasion enabled her to find novel solutions to any problem or situation that might crop up. Jacqueline was blessed with four children: oldest son Raymond, twins Kenneth "Mark" Schmidt and Kim, and youngest David. They were also blessed with eight grandchildren, Raymond, Michelle, Cheyanne, Samantha, Taylor, Riley, Jaylen, Angela.
Jacqueline was uplifted by new ideas and was excited by life’s possibilities, traits that made her an exceptional worker. Her primary occupation was golf course employee. She was employed as bartender, Restaurant and banquet waitress. Jacqueline was enterprising, inventive and working against deadlines seemed to energize her. Jacqueline had the uncanny ability to identify a win/win solution to just about any problem, possibly because of her gift for insight. Jacqueline's fellow workers saw her as a supporter and a mentor.
Because Jacqueline loved to have a broad variety of activities in her life, she took advantage of the opportunity to pursue numerous hobbies. Her favorite pursuits were taking care of and playing with her grandchildren, gardening her house plants, spending time with family, husband, kids, her brothers and sisters, neices and nephews and playing cards and bingo. Jacqueline had a knack for being able to multi-task in order to create time for all of her favorite pastimes. However, Jacqueline's ever-present concern for others always took precedent.
Jacqueline derived much satisfaction from participating in and watching sports. Her charisma, supportive nature and ability to improvise when called upon to do so all made perfect attributes for enjoying a great many sporting activities. Recreational sports included golfing with Greg Norman. Jacqueline was also something of a sports fan and enjoyed watching her favorite events whenever she got the opportunity.
Throughout her life, Jacqueline was actively involved in professional and community organizations. She was compassionate, accommodating and quick to move into action. Always able to build a consensus, Jacqueline seemed to be the person smack dab in the middle of things, working to get things done. Those who had the opportunity to work with Jacqueline usually agreed that when you were involved in an organization with her, it was as entertaining as anything you could imagine. Throughout her later years, Jacqueline was an active member of the Baytree Country Club in Tavares Florida.
Because Jacqueline was constantly in the center of things and where the action was, she always seemed willing to join in and help, regularly getting involved in community activities. Jacqueline's gift of planning and improvisation, along with a talent for rallying support, made her a great asset. Jacqueline found new ways of getting things done in order to help make just about every activity more efficient and enjoyable. Jacqueline was an active member of several community groups, serving on committees for the Bay tree Country Club activities including dinners, games and socials. Also a hospital guild member who visited the sick the hospital in Tavares, Florida.
Jacqueline's love of improvising in her daily life was a perfect fit for her enjoyment of traveling. Her favorite vacations were ones that were not planned. Traveling in a casual manor fit her personality well. Excited about seeing changing scenery and constantly looking for the enjoyment life could offer, Jacqueline took her vacations seriously, well, as seriously as she possibly could. Favorite vacations included ski trips in New England as a young adult,road trips across the United States with her husband and kid, road trips with her siblings throughout California, Arizona, Grand Canyon, Baja Mexico in 1978,1985, and 1987. A trip to New York for Eileen Thomas Ball's wedding with her friend Jean Pscholka in 1988, Reno and Las Vegas and Bahamas with daughter Kim and grandaughter in 1998.
When Jacqueline's retirement finally came in she semi retired at age 65 in 1998, Jacqueline handled it the way she usually did. She adapted and, like everything in her life, made it satisfying. Because she was such a flexible person and able to adjust to any situation, retirement was just another enjoyable change of pace for Jacqueline to master. Her new life involved relocating to Tavares, Florida from 1990 to 2003. In retirement, she found new pleasure in living in her baytree condo complex in Tavares Florida with all her sisters as neighbors. Even in retirement, Jacqueline continued to stay in touch with her old friends and like always, made plenty of new ones.
Jacqueline Schmidt passed away on January 14, 2011 at Ojai Valley Hospital. While living a nursing home in Ojai, California she passed due to Alzheimer's disease, she died of natural causes. She is survived by sisters Patricia Audrey and husband Bruce, and Marguerite; children Raymond, Mark, Kim, and David. Grandchildren Raymond, Michelle and husband Eric, Cheyanne, Samantha, Riley and Jaylen; and Great Grandchildren Draven and Kali Rose. Memorial Services were held on June 21,2011 at Pierce Brothers Crestlawn Memorial Chapel Riverside, California and on October 13, 2011 at St. Patricks Catholic Church in Mt. Dora Florida. Jacqueline was laid to rest in Crestlawn Memorial Park 11500 Arlington Ave. Riverside California 92505.
There was always a certain style and inventiveness to Jacqueline. She was a dynamic, self-expressive person who was forever looking to celebrate the endless possibilities life had to offer. She had a knack for being clever, creative and witty, and for others, was a joy to be around. While she was often fiercely independent, it seemed as if many others looked to Jacqueline Schmidt for inspiration, leadership, wisdom and even courage. Jacqueline was always more than willing to share life’s experiences with her loved ones.
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