Maxine H. Schmidt

Please Click here to view the funeral services held for Maxine Schmidt on December 29th, 2020 at St. Gregory the Great Parish.

Please Click here to view the live services for Maxine H. Schmidt

• VISITATION: Tuesday, December 29, 2020,  9:30am-10:30am, Heritage (6615 W. Oklahoma Ave.)
• MASS OF CHRISTIAN BURIAL: Tuesday, December 29, 2020,  11am, St. Gregory the Great Parish (3160 S. 63rd St.)

Schmidt, Maxine H.
(nee Walczak) Born to Eternal Life December 19, 2020 at the age of 93. Beloved wife of the late Richard. Loving mother of Christine (James) Lutz, Steven, Susan (Laurence) Wright, Donald (Genevieve), and Linda (Gregory) Deets. Dear grandmother of Jason (Trisha), Matthew (Sarah), the late Jennifer, Michael (Mary), Benjamin (Kayla), the late Samuel, Zachary, Roxanne (Kayla), Nicholas (Emily), Brittany (Deavon), Daniel, Madeline, Lukas, Julianna, Katherine, Braeden, and Keaten. Dear great-grandmother of Jackson, Chase, Kailey, Aliya, Gavin, Ryan, Caleb, Anna, and Vera. Dear sister of Caroline Sullivan. Also survived by many other family members and friends.

Maxine (‘Mic’, ‘Micky’) was born on Nov. 22, 1927 in Milwaukee to Agnes and Chester Walczak.

From a young age, Maxine enjoyed music and excelled at playing the accordion.  (In later years, she made certain that each of her children also played an instrument.)

Maxine graduated from Rufus King High School in 1946 after which she attended Marquette University for two years.  She met Richard Schmidt and their life- long love story began.  They married on October 2, 1948. They lived and raised their five children in Milwaukee with moves to Madison and Minneapolis, but returned to Milwaukee where they lived in their home for over 50 years.

Maxine and Richard shared a devoted Catholic faith and they felt strongly about sending all of their children to Catholic grade schools and high schools.

Maxine was an excellent, organized and devoted homemaker. She dearly loved Richard and her children and found much fulfillment in making a warm and loving home without asking for anything in return.  Maxine excelled at everything she put her heart into and she was passionate about many hobbies.  She enjoyed cooking, especially for holidays and she was an extraordinary baker.  The family enjoyed home-baked cake and cookies many nights.  She became known for her candy cane shaped coffee cakes at the St. Greg’s Christmas bake sale, so much so that people would preorder her creations!

Maxine was a talented seamstress.  She sewed everything from matching square dance outfits for herself and Richard, to stunning evening gowns.  She sewed matching outfits for her girls and even made curtains.  She also shared her love of sewing with her daughters and patiently taught them.  Maxine worked wonders with her crochet hooks and needle point needles and she was rarely without her bag of yarn.  She made more afghans than could be counted as well as sweaters, slippers, bonnets and booties.  She won many State Fair blue ribbons for her work!

Remarkably, with wash on Monday, ironing on Tuesday dinner on the table every night at 6:00 and an incredibly organized home, Maxine made time to give of herself through volunteering.  Like everything else she did, there was no mediocrity.  Involved in Christian Women for decades, she took a turn as secretary, vice-president and president.  She was a Girl Scout leader and on the church decorating committee.  She volunteered in the gift shop at Clement Manor and was on the advisory board there when Richard lived there.

Maxine and Richard fulfilled a dream and bought a lake cottage in 1970.  They were a real team with their vision as they tackled one project after another.  It brought them tremendous happiness to have the cottage for their family.  Many great memories and family bonding were made there.

Maxine returned to school in her 50’s and earned an associate degree to become a school para-pro.  She worked for MPS in a program for high risk students in alternative learning settings.

Maxine and Richard loved to travel and felt very blessed to be able to do so.  When the family was young, they would take a three day train trip to Tucson to visit Maxine’s parents.  From there they’d drive to Mexico or Disneyland.  They also took the family to Yellowstone, New York, Washington D.C. and Florida.  Later, Maxine and Richard traveled out east, to Europe and to the Canadian Rockies with friends.  There were few states they did not see.

Maxine adored her grandchildren and great- grandchildren.  Maxine loved frosting, and grandchildren were the frosting on the cake of her life.  They brought much joy to her life.  She would attend as many music concerts, sporting events and graduations as she possibly could, even when it meant driving two hours to get there!  She was enormously proud of each one of them and enjoyed their individuality.  Great-grandchildren were then, the frosting flowers on the frosting of her life’s cake.  She was smitten with them.  Visits from her great-grands would leave her smiling for hours.

Although Maxine had many physical challenges and lived with significant pain in her last years, she gave all that she could when she was able.  Maxine knew she had a very blessed life.  And those of us lucky enough to have known her, have been, and will always be, blessed

Visitation will be held on Tuesday, December 29, 2020 at the funeral home from 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM. Mass of Christian Burial will follow, at St. Gregory the Great Church (3160 S. 63rd St.), at 11 AM. Entombment at Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Mass of Christian Burial will be live streamed and recorded, visit the funeral home’s website for details. Celebration of Life will be announced at a later date.

If so desired, Memorials to PSP – Progressive Supranuclear Palsy @ www.psp.org would be appreciated.