Margie L. Schmidt

Margie Schmidt, age 88, died at the Muse-Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit in Mason City, IA, on September 5, 2021. Margie loved children. She was an active Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer and was honored as Iowa's CASA volunteer of the year.

Margie was born in Sioux City, IA, on August 6, 1933, to Roy and Marie Lane. After graduating from high school, she was told she could go to college anywhere she could reach by train because her father worked for the railroad.

She graduated from the University of Dubuque with a teaching degree and began her career in an elementary school. Her life took her to Des Moines, Boone, and then out of Iowa to Philadelphia. After another move led to a five year stint back in Dubuque in the 1970s, her family relocated to Fanwood, NJ. In 1980, Margie moved to Mason City to be near her parents.
From running Christian Education programs, to substitute teaching in the Mason City School District, she always enjoyed helping children. When she became the director of Mason City's Senior Center, Margie made sure that the building, which was purchased and remodeled into its first permanent location in 1993, also included a Charlie Brown Childcare center to facilitate multigenerational mixing.

Volunteering was such an important part of Margie’s life. She was a devoted member of P.E.O., active at The First Presbyterian Church in Mason City, important to the Alumni Association at the University of Dubuque and spent decades as a Mercy One volunteer in the critical care unit and at the Mason City Clinic lobby door. Her personal hobbies included knitting beautiful pieces for newborns and toddlers, writing letters to friends and spending time outside. Margie was always so interested in meeting new people.

Margie was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Shirley.

She is survived by her children Elizabeth, Andrew, Martha and Sarah; their spouses and loving grandchildren; her special friends at Cornerstone and The Manor; plus the countless friends who visited with all the time from First Presbyterian, Trinity Lutheran Church and the community she loved so much.

She was thankful for the helpful staff at Cornerstone and for the Iowa Department for the Blind's supply of talking books. In remembrance, donations can be made to Friends of Iowa CASA (at iowacasafriends.org) or for research to fight Type 1 Diabetes (at jdrf.org).

A celebration of life will be held at 1 PM Saturday, October 9, 2021 at the First Presbyterian Church, 100 South Pierce Ave., with the Rev. Paul Collier officiating. A gathering of family and friends will be held from 5 until 7 PM Friday, October 8, 2021 at the Major Erickson Funeral Home, 111 North Pennsylvania Ave, Mason City, IA.