Obituary of Elmer Wayne Schmidt

SCHMIDT - Elmer Wayne (January 20, 1930 - July 29, 2008) passed away peacefully after a lengthy illness. Survived by his children, Susan; Gail (Martin) Hak and their children Christopher, Jeffrey, and Kelsey; David and his children Richelle, Kimber-Leigh, and Lyndsey. Predeceased by his parents, Frank Schmidt (1936) and Vera Heydeman (1995). Elmer is survived by his sisters, Marie Dreger, Myrna Butts (Robert), and Lynne Dale; as well as many cousins, nieces, and nephews. He is also survived by Barbara Schmidt and by many good friends from the community. Elmer was born in Lang, Saskatchewan where he spent his early years. He attended Lang School, Notre Dame in Wilcox, and Campion College in Regina. He married Barbara Esther Stith on October 12, 1957. Elmer's many activities included sports, particularly, curling, tennis, and golfing. For 43 years he served the Caledonian Curling Club as a director in some form, twice as President, and was instrumental in the building of the Caledonian Curling Club facility in 1978. From 1972 - 1979 he served as the draw master of the Regina Mens' Bonspiel and from 1974 - 1979 he served as its secretary treasurer. In 1974 he began co-ordinating the curling ice for the Regina High School Athletic Association Program and annually organized an Appreciation Dinner for all high school coaches and Junior Curling Sponsors. In 1980 he became involved in the Regina Youth Bonspiel. For two decades, beginning in 1982, he developed the long running program called "Curling for Kids, which assisted many young curlers to become involved in the sport during their elementary school years. His latest project involved youth at risk from the community elementary schools to become involved in curling and meeting local celebrities to encourage them along the way. His competitive curling included several appearances at the provincial mixed playdowns, three times as a provincial finalist, and regional playdowns in the mens' and seniors' divisions. He was involved on many events as a volunteer such as the 1973 Air Canada World Silver Broom as the driver for the French team, 1976 MacDonald Brier National Championship as Arena Facilities Chairman, 1983 Air Canada Silver Broom as a director, and 1995 Canadian Junior Mens' and Womens' Curling Championships as Finance Committee chairman. He served as the General Manager of the 1992 Labatt Brier National Championship. He also attained his Curl Canada Instructor certification. Elmer had a varied career, banking experience, INCO in northern Manitoba, Credit Foncier and then moved to Francana Oil, owned his own business called Century Land Services where he provided landman services throughout the province. He sold cars for Lakeside Chrysler and was a grain farmer known for reusing old equipment before it became fashionable to recycle. He also instructed a credit class in curling at the University of Regina. In 1987, Elmer received the Saskatchewan Curling Association "Scotty Richardson Memorial Award, in 1989 the "Canadian Curling Association Award of Merit, in 1992 the Saskatchewan Curling Association "Junior Co-ordinator of the Year Award, in 2002 he was awarded the "Volunteer Award for Sport, Culture and Recreation Canadian and in 2004, "Curling Association Achievement Award. The family would like to thank the many employees of the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region who helped him out during his recent illness. Funeral Service will be held at Speers Funeral Chapel, 2136 College Avenue, Regina on Saturday August 2, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please donate to KidSport Regina, 1870 Lorne Street, Regina, SK S4P 2L7. An online book of condolences may be signed at www.speersfuneralchapel.com