Walt Schmidt, a community icon, passes
By Colleen Slater
Walter Schmidt was born September 4, 1919, in
Bismarck, North Dakota, and died on November 28,
2008, in Gig Harbor. Bertha, his wife of nearly
60 years, preceded him in death. He is survived
by two sons, John and Fred, five grandchildren –
Christine, Tyler, Jonathon, Hillary, and Bodie,
and one great-grandson.
Schmidt moved with his family from North Dakota
to Washington State as a young man, and
graduated from Lincoln High School in Tacoma
with Rhys Wood, another well-known KP
personality.
He came from a German speaking family in his
native Bismarck. After service in the army in
World War II, he worked as a translator at a POW
camp.
He attended Calvary Baptist Church in Tacoma,
where he loved to sing in the choir. The church
sponsored some German refugees after the war.
One morning one of those refugees entered the
church, looked up at the choir, and recognized
Schmidt as one of his interrogators in the POW
camp. Both men were surprised to meet again in a
different situation. Schmidt immediately
befriended him and they remained in touch the
rest of their lives.
Schmidt owned a drug store in Tacoma at 23rd
& K Streets. During the riots of 1971, his store
was vandalized. Everything was stolen or
damaged, says Schmidt’s son, John. In 1972,
Schmidt leased the market in Key Center built by
Purdy Realty after the disastrous 1970 fire
there. The family lived in Vaughn for a year
before moving to Home. He bought the market
after a few years.
The retail business was Walt's lifeblood. John,
who was 12 when they took over the Key Center
market, says his dad bought their second store
in Allyn around 1978, then became a third
partner in the McCleary store. Schmidt had to
take over the store there, so kept it only a few
years.
He sold the Allyn store, became partners with
Don Zimmerman and set up the market at Lake
Kathryn. He then sold the McCleary store. He
bought the Bridgeway Market in the late ‘80s or
early ‘90s, says John.
“In all the years of our partnership, we never
had an argument,” says Zimmerman. “I liked the
guy as a person, too.”
Perhaps Schmidt learned to not argue from being
the only boy and the youngest of 12 children. He
told Mary Krumbein once, “I have 11 sisters; I
never argue with a woman!”
“One of the things I admired most about him was
his soft spot for boys who had been raised in
orphanages, as he’d spent time in one,”
Zimmerman says. “His dream was to put up a boy’s
orphanage camp on the Quinault River.” He
purchased property, and worked toward the goal,
but gave it up when his wife’s health declined.
Schmidt retired from the Market six years ago,
but continued to stop by every day for many
years, just to say hi to the shoppers or to see
how business was going. Even at the age of 80,
Walt still drove his truck, making trips to the
bank and taking care of other business in the
area.
“He was a very generous man to the community,”
says John, and that view is repeated from nearly
all who knew him.
“He sponsored baseball teams, including Little
League,” says John. “He’d provide shirts or
bats, or whatever was needed.”
Community member Hugh McMillan said, “Walt was a
charter member and the first Treasurer of the
Key Peninsula Lions Club. The entryways to
Walt’s Fine Foods were frequently adorned with
Girl Scouts hawking their cookies, Boy and Cub
Scouts doing fund-raisers for scholarships for
Scouts needing assistance, the KP Lions
conducting the annual White Canes’ Days fund
raisers in support of Lions Sight Conservation
programs and Lions Golden Ear Days supportive of
the Lions Hearing Conservation programs, KP
Firefighters’ volunteers collecting funds for a
plethora of good causes, the local Veterans of
Foreign Wars Buddy Poppy program.”
Schmidt also supported skate night at the Civic
Center, Volunteer Park projects, and the fire
department. The volunteer firefighters could get
refreshments at his store after a fire call, and
Schmidt worked with Ashes, the firefighters’
auxiliary.
“He’d help anyone who was down on their luck,”
says Nita Glass, a longtime customer. He
extended credit when it would help people in the
community.
Clint Buckell tells of the time a brother-in-law
visited from out of state. Buckell asked Schmidt
if he’d cash a check for the man. “Of course,”
said Schmidt, with no questions asked.
“Your word to him was more valuable than
anything else,” says John. And he stood by his
own word.
“In his death he leaves behind a legacy of a
family who love and miss him, and a community
that is grateful for his generosity and kindness
to all,” noted Pastor Dan Whitmarsh at Schmidt’s
service.
