Kenneth John Schmidt

Born on June 27, 1952 to George and Annie Schmidt (Getz) as the 4th of 5 children, Ken lived his entire life in Tacoma, virtually all of it in the same house on Fife Street. He graduated from Mt. Tahoma High School in 1970, playing tuba in the high school band. He married the love of his life, Paulette Schmidt (Kautzman) on July 3rd, 1971 at the tender age of 19. He joined the US Army less than three months later, and was honorably discharged after serving 8 years as a Staff Sergeant, and was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal and Good Conduct Metal. During his service, he was stationed at Fort Lewis, WA, Fort Bliss, TX, Fulda, Germany and Fort Ord, CA. While stationed in Fort Bliss, Ken and Paulette had their first child, Tammy. Eighteen months later, they had their first son, Ken, Jr. After moving back to Washington in 1979, they rented a house in South Tacoma before purchasing Ken’s childhood home where they lived until just before his passing. In 1981, Ken and Paulette were blessed with the birth of their 3rd child, Ryan. Ken was a delivery driver for the Tacoma News Tribune for a few years before briefly operating Ken’s Car Kare for a couple years until he graduated from Clover Park Technical College. He then went to work at South Side Brake & Clutch, where he worked for the next 27 years, brightening the lives of coworkers and customers alike, and bringing home an untold number of stories to share with his family and friends…over and over and over again! A lifetime member of the AmVets and Fraternal Order of the Eagles (Local #2933), Ken served as the Eagles’ Worthy President among other positions. Ken was an avid lifelong boater, fisherman, joke teller and lover of life. He never took life too seriously, except when it came to helping others, in which case he was ALWAYS available. He loved spending time with people, and promoting harmony in his social group at the Eagles. Above all, Ken loved spending time with his grandchildren. In 1994, Ken and Paulette bought a small cabin on Phillips Lake. Over the next 22 years, Ken, Paulette and probably a hundred other people poured their love into the cabin with thousands of hours of hard labor building retaining walls, excavating the basement and building their dream retirement home. Everyone was welcome at the lake for drinks, fishing, camping, chatting and that famous never-ending trip around the lake in the “Schmidt Happens” pontoon boat, also known as “Bass Buggy Jail.” Last spring, they started construction of Ken’s dream garage and he couldn’t wait to spend another thousand hours working on various projects, still unfinished. Ken retired from South Side Brake & Clutch on March 31, 2016 with a motor home, a lake house, a loving family, and dreams of many, many years holding hands and watching the sun rise and set with Paulette. Only a couple weeks later, he started coughing and after months of progressive tests and scans, he was diagnosed with advanced (Stage 3B) lung cancer in late August. Although his cancer was aggressive, he vowed to fight it ferociously, but in the end, he chose to go peacefully. He wasn’t ready to leave his family, but his faith made him not afraid to die. Big Ken is survived by his loving wife of 45 years Paulette, mother Annie Getz, daughter Tammy Grice, sons Ken Jr. (Heidi) and Ryan (Melissa), 5 beloved grandchildren (Emma 11, Liam 9, Ethan 8, Lucy 4, Lily 1, and a grandson due in November), brother Eugene (Debbie), sister Gloria Ahrens, Uncle and best friend Marlin “Nick” Leingang (Janelle), Aunt Lucy Burke, Aunt Josie Muth and dozens of cousins, nieces and nephews. He left us on October 15th to join in heaven his father George (45), brother Gary (46) and sister Kathleen (19). Ken’s life will be celebrated on Saturday, October 29th at 11 am at the Champions Centre at 1819 E. 72nd Street in Tacoma. A finger food potluck reception will immediately follow.