Viola E. Schmitz

Viola Ernestine Schmitz, 88, of St. Benedict, KS, died early Thursday morning, January 24, 2008, at Crestview Manor care home in Seneca, where she had been a resident since 2004.
     Viola was born on February 15, 1919, the daughter of Frank and Bernadine Hulsing Bergman, on a farm northwest of St. Benedict.  She attended Cottonwood School, St. Mary’s School, and helped on the family farm. 
      On April 23, 1941, she married Silverius N. “Sap” Schmitz at St. Mary’s Church in St. Benedict.  The young married couple lived on a farm northwest of St. Benedict. In 1948, they bought their family farm, where they resided until 1979 when they moved into St. Benedict. Her husband preceded her in death in 19996.
       Viola raised a large garden, and enjoyed sewing, embroidering, and quilting with her sisters.  She was a member of St. Mary’s Church and the St. Ann’s Altar Society in St. Benedict. 
       She will be missed by her five daughters, Kathleen Hylton of Topeka, Diane Schultz of Berryton, Esther Shattuck of White Oak, TX, Marilyn Egan of Riverside, CA and Cecilia Olberding of Seneca; two sons, Jerome  Schmitz of Newton and Michael Schmitz of Baileyville; 22 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.  Her brother Wilfred Bergman of Seneca and her sisters Alma Haug of Baileyville and Luella Schmidt of Buhl, ID, also survive her.
       Besides her husband, she was preceded in death by three grandsons, Jerrod Schmitz, Justin Olberding, and a stillborn baby boy; and siblings Ray Bergman, Alfred Bergman, Arthur Bergman, Florena Schmitz and Mary Ann Schmitz.
       Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 am on Saturday, January 26, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in St. Benedict.  She will be laid to rest next to her husband in the church cemetery.  Rosaries will be prayed at 2 & 7 pm Friday at Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca.
       Memorials can be given to Nemaha Valley Community Hospital or St. Mary’s Church in Viola’s memory, and may be sent in care of the family.