Dennis Schmidt

It is with a heavy heart

that the Schmidt family

announces the passing of

Dennis Richard Schmidt.

He went to be with his

Heavenly Father on 23

September, 2020 at 80

years of age.

Dennis was born on 8

September 1940 in Minot,

North Dakota to Katie and

Fred Schmidt. Dennis

grew up and worked on

the family farm with his

sister Vernetta and broth-

ers Harlyn and Myron. He

graduated from Sawyer

High School in 1958 and

enlisted in the United

States Air Force doing

tours in Texas and Japan.

After serving in the Air

Force, Dennis moved back

to the Midwest and mar-

ried the love of his life,

Ruth Schmidt (Moseng).

Working in Civil service

they lived in Duluth, MN

and Great Falls, MT final-

ly they settled in Sawyer,

North Dakota. Then

worked in civil service

and sold insurance while

working the family farm.

Dennis enjoyed his

John Deere tractors and

very much disliked his

Massey 510 combine be-

cause the thing never

made it through a harvest

without breaking down.

He would drive the John

Deere 4010 that didn’t

have air conditioning so

his boys could drive the

4430 and have the am ra-

dio and air-conditioning

– he got so much joy

farming with his family it

didn’t matter what equip-

ment he was using.

For many years he sold

insurance as an indepen-

dent insurance agent with

the company name of

Schmidt’s Insurance

Agency. Dennis worked as

a postmaster at both

Ryder and Bowman,

North Dakota. Never con-

tent with the status quo,

Dennis was always trying

to figure out what the

next big thing was and

working to get in on the

ground floor of a new

business venture. He

co-owned Rocket Express

where he drove as a hot

shot trucker and his grand

finale, Ruden Healthy

Oils, created a bumper

crop of hemp waiting to

be harvested and made

into hemp products and

CBD oil.

Dennis was active in

the community serving on

the Sawyer School board,

Sawyer Farmer’s Elevator

board and working on

multiple projects and

boards and as a trustee

and ordained elder at Our

Redeemers Lutheran

Brethren Church. He had

a massive rolodex of

wonderful people whom

he spent countless hours

with at Our Redeemers.

We do not consider

Dennis’s church friends,

‘friends’ – they were fam-

ily to him. Thank you to

our Christian Family for

showing us what it means

to live and love as Christ.

Dennis was always gen-

erous with his time and

enjoyed summer events

that were run by his Stef-

fan aunts and uncles. He

loved going to all the local

games and cheering for

his favorite team or

player.

As the older generation

passed, Dad and his

cousin Dave became the

family patriarchs that

planned and scheduled

family events that cen-

tered around eating and

telling old- time stories.

Dennis loved his in-laws:

Shirley, Ed, Cleo, Quint,

Clara, John, Jim, and Bev

– we are certain Dennis,

Uncle Jim, Uncle John

and Uncle Ed hold some

record for longest visiting

session covering impor-

tant topics like weather,

politics, and farming.

Dennis enjoyed spending

time with his nieces and

nephews and was always

interested in Maria, Car-

men, Ryan, Fritz, Tim,

Kelly, Will, and Lanetta’s

families and lives. It was

fun to watch him spend

time with his nieces and

nephews – he loved the

children of his sisters’ and

brothers’ immensely and

enjoyed attending their

sporting events and func-

tions. He also enjoyed

visiting his military son

and daughter-in-law,

Mark and Shontelle, along

with their grandchildren,

Briella, Elise, Gideon, and

Jasper.

Together, he and Ruth

visited them at all 17 of

their base stations. A con-

stant source of joy to

Dennis was spending time

with his other son, Jon.

Many trips were taken to

explore Alaska and visit

Jon and his dog, Zingo. In

recent years, Dennis en-

joyed having Jon live back

in North Dakota where

they could spend time to-

gether and work on pro-

jects. Dennis’s greatest

moments in life were

spent with Ruth. Married

for 55 years, their adven-

tures in life never stopped

– traveling to events,

hosting gatherings, gar-

dening, going to church

and going to local high

school games were their

favorite things to do to-

gether. They were a per-

fect match, Ruth dreamed

up the projects and events

and Dennis was her wil-

ling partner in every en-

deavor. They did daily de-

votions together, prayed

together, and always had

Christ at the center of

their marriage. If you

want to know how to love

your wife – use our

beloved Dennis as an ex-

ample. Dennis never let

his age stop his active liv-

ing. In his 70s he took on

a huge undertaking and

helped head up volunteer

flood relief in Minot with

many others to include

his cousin, Curt Zimbel-

man who was mayor. He

did a couple of missionary

trips to Africa with Pastor

Jennings and his church

friends from the Bottineau

area at age 77. Certainly

Dennis would say that his

missionary trip with his

brother Harlyn was one of

the best moments of his

life – thank you, Harlyn.

In the end Dennis will be

remembered as a generous

man who loved his wife,

family and friends and

worked to make our world

a better place.

A private by invitation

graveside service is

scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

October 12, 2020 at

Rosehill Memorial Park,

Minot. To access a lives-

tream of the service or

share memories and con-

dolences visit

www.thomas

familyfuneralhome.com

Public Visitation: Oc-

tober 11, 2020 from 1:00

p.m. until 4:00 p.m. at

Our Redeemer’s Church,

Minot. Due to pandemic,

social distancing and

masks are required to at-

tend.

A Celebration of Life

for Dennis will be held

next summer when we are

permitted to gather

without restriction.