Art was the son of Bernhard H. Schmidt and Maria Koehn. He was born on their farm outside of Goessel.
He married Hedwig Helena Neufeld on April 5, 1934 at the Tabor Mennonite Church in Marion County, Kansas. They spent most of their married life living in Newton, Kansas. They were blessed with two sons. They also opened their home and hearts to Hedwig's niece, my mother, when her family life was unstable and she needed a place to live. They wanted to adopt her and make the relationship permanent but that was not to be.
Uncle Art was not a large man. Of course, I did not come along until his children were grown so I never saw him as the man who had issued a spanking to my mother for making noise in church with the Pastor's daughter. To me, he was the man with a gentle voice and German accent who liked to talk about trains and show us the old toys he had kept that were fragile from time. There are memories not of events but of the feeling you got when you went to visit their home. You felt welcome and comfortable. There was peace in their home and you crossed their threshold feeling loved.
He married Hedwig Helena Neufeld on April 5, 1934 at the Tabor Mennonite Church in Marion County, Kansas. They spent most of their married life living in Newton, Kansas. They were blessed with two sons. They also opened their home and hearts to Hedwig's niece, my mother, when her family life was unstable and she needed a place to live. They wanted to adopt her and make the relationship permanent but that was not to be.
Uncle Art was not a large man. Of course, I did not come along until his children were grown so I never saw him as the man who had issued a spanking to my mother for making noise in church with the Pastor's daughter. To me, he was the man with a gentle voice and German accent who liked to talk about trains and show us the old toys he had kept that were fragile from time. There are memories not of events but of the feeling you got when you went to visit their home. You felt welcome and comfortable. There was peace in their home and you crossed their threshold feeling loved.
Art was the son of Bernhard H. Schmidt and Maria Koehn. He was born on their farm outside of Goessel.
He married Hedwig Helena Neufeld on April 5, 1934 at the Tabor Mennonite Church in Marion County, Kansas. They spent most of their married life living in Newton, Kansas. They were blessed with two sons. They also opened their home and hearts to Hedwig's niece, my mother, when her family life was unstable and she needed a place to live. They wanted to adopt her and make the relationship permanent but that was not to be.
Uncle Art was not a large man. Of course, I did not come along until his children were grown so I never saw him as the man who had issued a spanking to my mother for making noise in church with the Pastor's daughter. To me, he was the man with a gentle voice and German accent who liked to talk about trains and show us the old toys he had kept that were fragile from time. There are memories not of events but of the feeling you got when you went to visit their home. You felt welcome and comfortable. There was peace in their home and you crossed their threshold feeling loved.
He married Hedwig Helena Neufeld on April 5, 1934 at the Tabor Mennonite Church in Marion County, Kansas. They spent most of their married life living in Newton, Kansas. They were blessed with two sons. They also opened their home and hearts to Hedwig's niece, my mother, when her family life was unstable and she needed a place to live. They wanted to adopt her and make the relationship permanent but that was not to be.
Uncle Art was not a large man. Of course, I did not come along until his children were grown so I never saw him as the man who had issued a spanking to my mother for making noise in church with the Pastor's daughter. To me, he was the man with a gentle voice and German accent who liked to talk about trains and show us the old toys he had kept that were fragile from time. There are memories not of events but of the feeling you got when you went to visit their home. You felt welcome and comfortable. There was peace in their home and you crossed their threshold feeling loved.
