Most people spend their lives bound by perceived limitations as to what they’re capable of accomplishing.
But there are those rare few who see no limitations, fear no obstacles and face all challenges head on.
To them, the world is a place of opportunities, possibilities and chances to soar above the clouds.
Mildred H. Schmidt was one of those unique individuals and the Oxford/Addison area was so very fortunate to have her for so long.
She passed away on Monday, Oct. 30, 2007 at the age of 99.
As a founding member of the Northeast Oakland Historical Society in October 1971, Schmidt’s name was synonymous with the preservation and dissemination of local history, much of which she lived.
‘She sure gave the community a lot,? said Oxford resident Mary Ann Schlicht, past historical society president. ‘She’s going to be greatly missed.?’Invaluable? was how Schlicht characterized Schmidt’s involvement in the historical society. ‘It was her life. It became her passion.?
‘It was just part of her,? said Barbara Stafford, Addison resident, local historian and a ‘very good friend? of Schmidt’s for 34 years. ‘She and I recorded a lot of history together.?
Whereas many folks view history as a dry collection of names and dates, Schmidt saw it as a child’s toys or a great-grandmother’s ‘Sunday going-to-church hat.?
‘When I was in school, I thought history was boring. I hated having to memorize the names of all those kings and dates,? she confessed in a May 2000 interview with the Leader. ‘But local history is different because you live it and are a part of it. I’m interested in people’s everyday lives and showing how they lived and worked.?
Schmidt served as curator of the historical society’s museum at the northwest corner of Burdick and Washington streets for 27 of its 35 years. She officially retired from the post in 1999, but remained active and influential.
‘She was the mainstay of it,? said Earl Bliss, of Lake Orion, who’s served as a curator at the museum since the early 1990s. ‘You didn’t make changes without her knowing it.?
Over the years, Schmidt filled the museum with artifacts such as clothes, furniture, dishes, tools and other everyday items, which transformed history into a living story everyone could relate to. Some of her own childhood toys and other family items are on display.
‘She devoted her entire retirement to establishing the museum,? said Schlicht, who considered her ‘a good friend and a wonderful mentor.?
Schmidt, who possessed a sharp mind, good sense of humor and seemingly endless memory, loved giving tours of the museum to scouts and school children.
Telling them how people worked and played when she was a little girl was a particular favorite.
‘The museum was her pride and joy,? Stafford said. ‘Anything she could do to help it and make it better, she did.?
‘That was practically all she thought of,? said Jerry Griffin, current president of the historical society and curator at the museum. ‘As far as I’m concerned, she was the museum. My personal opinion is there wouldn’t have been a museum without her.?
In October 1996, the Oxford Village Council honored Schmidt’s dedication to the museum by approving a special resolution in her honor.
Outside of the museum, Schmidt wrote a few local history books focusing on Addison Township, where she was born and raised, and its people.
In 1975, she coauthored ‘Early Addison Township History, Bi-Centennial 1976? with Shirley Patterson and Barbara Stafford.
Schmidt chronicled the history of her maternal grandfather and her own life in Addison in her 1995 book ‘I Remember Grandfather: The Story of Eugene Mack.?
Mack, who lived from 1845 to 1940, was one of Addison’s early residents. Schmidt was raised by him and her grandmother, Ella, on the family’s homestead at the northwest corner of Mack and Dequindre roads.
According to Bliss, Mack was a ‘strict Republican? and Schmidt ‘leaned the other way.?
‘But she never told him that,? said Bliss with a chuckle.
In 1997, Schmidt finished writing ‘The Brewers of Addison Township,? a history of one of the township’s pioneer families.
Her efforts to preserve, record and pass on local history earned Schmidt the Rotary Club of Oxford’s G.E. Meads Award and the Oxford Area Chamber of Commerce’s Community Preservation Award. She received both in 2000.
Outside the historical society, Schmidt was a charter and life member of the North Oakland Genealogical Society in Lake Orion.
Although Schmidt dedicated the last 36 years of her life to local history, she was not a historian by trade.
She taught elementary school in Almont from September 1956 until her retirement in June 1971. Having no children of her own, Schmidt loved her students like a mother.
Schmidt was a member of the Lapeer County Association of Retired School Personnel.
Education was very important to Schmidt, who attended the old Mack School, near her childhood home, for grades one through eight.
She attended Detroit Northwestern High School from 1922-26 and did post graduate work for one year at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, where she took art classes.
Schmidt headed to Brooklyn, New York to attend the Pratt Institute’s School of Fine and Applied Art and took a teacher training course from 1927-30.
In the summer of 1930, she attended Detroit Teachers College, then it was off to the College of the City of Detroit for the fall and winter of 1930-31.
It was at Wayne State University (WSU) in 1933 that Schmidt finally obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in education.
But Schmidt didn’t stop there. From 1956 through 1963, she worked to obtain her master’s degree in elementary education from WSU.
While working on her master’s, Schmidt taught school in Almont, cared for her ailing mother and husband’s parents and helped run her own household and farm in Dryden Township. In 1995, she sold that farm and moved to Oxford.
It was noted by Stafford that Schmidt was a ‘very caring person? who was ‘always willing to help anybody,? particularly those she viewed as the ‘underdog.?
‘She helped a lot of people that nobody ever knew about,? Stafford explained. ‘It was just quietly done.?
Although education, family and history were the main focus of her life, Schmidt was passionate about one other thing ? flying.
In the early 1940s, she took flying lessons and flew out of Pontiac Airport. She would have obtained her pilot’s license, but did not due to her husband’s objections that it was too dangerous.
Decades later, Schmidt would fly again. On July 2, 1998, to celebrate her 90th birthday, she went for a hot air balloon ride over the rural area where she had grown up.
Schmidt is preceded in death by her first husband, Herbert E. Brannon, who passed away in 1947, and her second husband, Carl J. Schmidt, whom she was married to for 46 years.
She had no children by either husband.
Schmidt is also preceded in death by her parents Lena V. Mack and Myron Luther Chatham and maternal grandparents Eugene and Ella (Jones) Mack.
A memorial service will be held at noon on Saturday, Nov. 10 at Lynch & Sons Funeral Directors Bossardet Chapel (39 W. Burdick St.).
Friends may visit from 11 a.m. until the time of the noon service.
Memorials may be made to the Northeast Oakland Historical Society’s Building Acquisition Fund.