Dr. Schmidt

Dr. Frank Lamar Schmidt, Sr. of Pass Christian died at home on June 22.
He was born in Gulfport on October 12, 1933, and grew up in Bay St. Louis. He was preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Myrtle Schmidt; his siblings Charlene Martinolich, Coyle Theodore (C.T.) Schmidt, Alton Schmidt, and Laurene Cuevas; and by his daughter, Mary Patricia Schmidt.
As a youth, Schmidt achieved Eagle Scout rank in Boy Scouts of America. He graduated as salutatorian of St. Stanislaus College 1950. He served with the Mississippi National Guard for six years. During the Berlin Wall Crisis, he was a captain attached to the 134 ^th Evacuation Hospital stationed at Ft. Polk (Louisiana), where he reigned as the 1962 undefeated arm wrestling champion.
He was an undergraduate at the University of Mississippi and attended two years medical school at University of Mississippi in Oxford. He completed his studies and received his Medical Degree from Louisiana State University in New Orleans.
For five years he maintained a family practice in Bay St. Louis before pursuing a specialty in radiology in Birmingham, Alabama and completing his radiology residency at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. In 1975, he was a founding partner in SMB (Schmidt, Martinolich and Barrett) Radiology in Gulfport. He served as radiologist on staff at Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, Hancock General, and Garden Park.  He was a board certified radiologist, a member of the American Medical Association, and a Fellow of the American College of Radiology until his retirement in 2000.
A lifelong Catholic, Schmidt was devoted to his faith. For more than fifty years, he was a member of St. Paul and then Holy Family parishes. He was a member of the Equestrian Knights of the Holy Sepulcher. He served on the St. Paul
Parish Council, the school board; and his was a founding family of Our Lady Academy, an all-female Catholic high school in Bay St. Louis.
As a lover of language both written and spoken, he was an avid reader, crossword puzzle enthusiast, and aspiring poet who penned dozens of poems during his retirement years. A good joke, riddle, or limerick always met with his appreciative laughter.
By far his greatest love was the love he shared with his wife, Shirley, and their ever-growing family. Gatherings at their Pass Christian home, Great Oaks, were joyful occasions where there was never a stranger, never an empty plate, and never a vodka martini.
He is survived by his wife, Shirley Ann Connaughton Schmidt, seven children, Frank (Nell) Schmidt, Anne (Bill) Andry, Ted (Missy) Schmidt, Thomas (Donna) Schmidt, Beth Taylor, Aimee (Sarah Brainard) Schmidt, and Chris (Jennifer) Schmidt, his sixteen grandchildren, and six great grandchildren.
The family wishes to express their appreciation to Notre Dame Hospice, especially Hayden Larroux Hoffmann, Missy Breath Altese, Christine Wallace, and care givers Willie Keys, Janet Ladner, Emily Brown, Amos Murrell, and Theresa Gibson.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, June 29 at 11am with visitation from 9-11am at Holy Family church. Burial will follow in Live Oak Cemetery in Pass Christian.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Mary Patricia Schmidt Scholarship Fund at Our Lady Academy (Bay St. Louis) or the building fund at Holy Family Parish (Pass Christian).
The RIEMANN FAMILY FUNERAL HOME, Pass Christian, is serving the family and an online guestbook may be signed and condolences offered at www.riemannfamily.com