Karen Schmitz

Karen Kathryn (Hoffman) Schmitz was born Sept. 26, 1939, to Elmer and Anna Hoffman.
She grew up in the country on the family farm, attended Harrold (S.D.) Consolidated school and Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D., earning her teaching certificate.  She started teaching in the Fall of 1958 at Sunshine School south of Harrold.
In 1959 Karen married Donald Schmitz of Harrold.  They lived West of Ft. Pierre, S.D., for the next three years, where Karen taught country school and Don worked as a ranch hand before moving south of Harrold on the Schmitz home place.  Karen continued teaching and substituting.
On Sept. 28, 1962, Karen and Don welcomed their son, Rick. After Rick was born, Karen worked as a homemaker and farm hand doing whatever was needed.
She was active in the church and enjoyed playing the organ at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Harrold. Through the years, Karen liked playing guitar for country school dances, playing cards, working on jigsaw puzzles, gardening and watching rodeos.
In the Fall of 1980 Karen and Don moved to Custer, S.D. She became an active member of Our Redeemer Lutheran and continued her organ playing. Shortly after moving to Custer, she started working at the Custer County Highway Department as the administrative assistant until retiring in 2015.
Donald Schmitz died May 27, 1997.  Karen continued living in Custer until moving to Minnesota in the Fall of 2017 to be closer to her son, Rick, his wife, Nancy, and their boys, Luke and Jake.
Karen was active with her Minnesota church family at Hosanna Lutheran.  After church, she joined Rick and family for an afternoon of visiting and watching rodeos on TV.
Whenever possible she attended Luke and Jake’s sports games no matter how miserable the weather. Karen was always teaching card games, tricks on cooking, how to can/pressure cook among other things.  She was truly a wealth of information.
Karen died at home in Rogers, Minn., Nov. 25, 2021. She was 82.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Elmer and Ann Hoffman; husband, Donald Schmitz; brother-in-laws and sister-in-laws, Harry and Edna, Mel and Mary, Darlene and Ralph, Lucille and Ernie, Lois and Francis, Bob and Eileen and Janice, Tom, Patricia and Merrill.
Karen is survived by her son, Rick (Nancy) of Buffalo, Minn.; grandsons Luke (fiancé Taylor) and Jacob (Bria) Schmitz; brother-in-laws, Dick Schmitz and Jerald Bronemann of Harrold; sister-in-law, Dodie Garrity of Hayes, S.D.; and numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Funeral services were Dec. 4 at Immanuel Lutheran Church of Harrold with pastor Rob Jarvis officiating. Interment was in Medicine Hill Cemetery of Harrold.