Dr. Jerome A Schmidt, age 86, of Pulaski, WI passed away on Thursday, January 19 with his family by his side. Jerome was born January 30, 1936 to Andrew and Mary (Gebauer) Schmidt, in Spencer, WI.
Jerome graduated from Loyal High School in 1954, and served in the army and was deployed to Japan and Korea. After the service, he returned to Loyal and help on the family farm. A year later he attended UW River Falls in the pre-vet program.
He married his high school sweetheart, Karen Wichman on August 27, 1960. He finished his undergraduate degree at UW-River Falls and went on to University of Minnesota and completed his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1965.
After graduating, Jerome established veterinary practice in Edgar, WI. In September of 1966, a severe car accident, left him in a body cast with 23 broken bones and long hospital and home recovery. He was able to return to his practice until he retired and moved to Missouri in 1991. But animals called him back to practice again with a small animal mobile practice until 2017. Doc and Karen returned to Wisconsin in 2017 to be closer their family.
Animals were always a part of his life. Doc raised his family on a farm in Edgar with 40 or more horses and other livestock. Jerome and Karen raised many Quarter and Paint show horses, including 2 World Champions. Their children enjoyed showing horses every summer weekend and experiencing life on the farm. In retirement, they had a 270 acre ranch in Missouri that included livestock such as, Tennessee Fox Trotters, cattle like, Zebus, Watusi, and Italian Chiania, and New Zealand Booroola and Marino Sheep. Doc had an auction company, was an auctioneer, school board president, and horse show judge.
Jerome is survived by his wife of 62 years, Karen, 3 children, Jacqueline Bergquist (friend Mark Roberts), of Oshkosh, Tammy Lipsey (Michael) of Pulaski, and Jay Schmidt (Tammy) of Edgar. He was the proud grandfather of six grandchildren, Jordyn, Kayla, Austin, Samantha, Tyler, and Camryn. He is survived by his brother Andrew (Faye) Schmidt, sisters Dorthy Ertl and Evelyn (John) Schultz, sister-in-law Judy Schmidt, brother-in-law Larry Waldhauser, as well as many nephews and nieces. He is proceeded in death by his parents Andrew and Mary, his brother Donald Schmidt and sister Marie Waldhauser.
A special thank you to Jerome’s care team at Bristol Hospice and Emerald Bay Memory Care.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Sunday, April 16th at 1-4 pm at the Town of Cassel Town Hall, 222901 County Road S, Marathon, WI. Military Honors at 3 pm.