Richard Schmitz

Richard M. Schmitz, age 84, of Sauk Centre, died peacefully Tuesday, December 25, 2012 at Pine Villa Care Center in Melrose, Minnesota.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, December 29th at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Sauk Centre. Rev. Vincent Lieser will officiate with interment following in St. Mary's Cemetery, Melrose. Military honors will be provided by the Sauk Centre United Veterans Honor Guard.

Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday and 8 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Sauk Centre. Parish prayers will be at 5:15 p.m. followed by United Veterans prayer service at 7 p.m. Friday evening at the funeral home.

Richard Michael Schmitz was born April 3, 1928 in Richmond, Minnesota to Alois and Mary (Kammers) Schmitz. The family moved to Sauk Centre in 1944. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict from 1952 to 1954 and was stationed in Alaska. He married Lenore Sonnen on September 1, 1958 at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Melrose. The couple farmed in the Holdingford area before moving to a farm in West Union Township, Todd County. They farmed there from 1965 until 1996 when they retired and moved to Sauk Centre.

Richard enjoyed playing cards, restoring old tractors and he liked to travel. Richard was a member of St. Paul's Catholic Church, where he ushered for over 35 years, Richmond Catholic Order of Foresters and American Legion Post 67.

Survivors include his wife, Lenore Schmitz of Sauk Centre; seven brothers and sisters, Edna (Leonard) Orth, Dorothy Trisko, all of Sauk Centre, Donald (Julie) Schmitz and Alois (Lorraine) Schmitz of Anoka, Mary (Dan) Weber of Albany, Susan Dirkes of Osakis and Diane Schmitz of St. Cloud; sisters-in-law, Rosella "Rosie" Schmitz of Melrose, Betty Schmitz of Mesa, Arizona, Darlene (Cyril) Meyer of Melrose, Kathy (Ed) Heinze of Sauk Centre, Jean (LuVerne) Ritter of Melrose; brother-in-law, Gerald Sonnen of Melrose; many nieces and nephews; and special friends, Rodney and Sandy Meyer of Sauk Centre.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Leon and Florian Schmitz; brothers-in-law, Jerry Dirkes and Raphael Trisko.

Serving as casket bearers will be Craig Heinze, Gary Meyer, Chad Ritter, Mike Weber, James Dirkes and Gregg Trisko. Cross bearer will be Justin Ritter and scripture bearer will be Jill Roerick. Lectors will be Dean Meyer and Paula Trisko, gift bearers will be Kim Austin and Janet Pfeninger and servers will be Sarah and Aaron Meyer.