JL (John) Schmidt, 77, was born December 20, 1946, in Scottsbluff, Nebr., and passed to eternity April 21, 2024.
JL began writing the weekly Capitol View column for Nebraska Press Association in June, 2012, succeeding longtime Statehouse Correspondent, Ed Howard.
A Scottsbluff native and 1976 University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism graduate, Schmidt began his newspaper career at The Daily Nebraskan in 1966. He worked as a reporter, copy editor, business manager and night news editor.
In February 1970, he was named News Editor of the Keith County News in Ogallala, and Editor of the Paxton-Sutherland Courier Times. In 1972 he joined the Scottsbluff Star-Herald as regional editor and columnist. He joined the staff at Maverick Media in 1974 as editor of the Peru Challenge. In 1975, he ran a bar and restaurant, The Front Page, in Peru, NE.
In 1975 Schmidt joined the staff of the Lincoln Star as night police reporter and part-time movie and book reviewer. In 1979 he joined The Associated Press as a newsman at the statehouse in Lincoln. In 1980 he was named Correspondent of the AP Bureau in Central, IL. He later assumed the same post at the AP in Peoria, IL. He became Regional Editor of the Peoria Journal-Star in 1984.
Schmidt re-joined the AP in Omaha as a newsman in 1986, then transferred to the Lincoln AP Bureau where he worked with the late Ed Howard as a newsman through 1998. He spent 18 months in the Nebraska Department of Administrative Services as assistant to the director, before joining the state Nebraska Main Street program as Director in 1999.
He retired in 2011 as Executive Director of Heritage Nebraska, a statewide non-profit preservation group which was the outgrowth of the Nebraska Main Street program. He then served as Director of the Classic Car Collection in Kearney, a Nebraska tourism venue, which featured 144 restored classic cars.
He won many awards for his secular work, but it was his love of Jesus that brought him the greatest joy. He was a deacon, Sunday School teacher, recovery group leader, and chair/member of numerous church boards and committees. He loved teaching about forgiveness and had a heart for people who had hurts, hang-ups and habits. He prayed out loud for friends and family from his hospital bed until the very end.
He was very creative, and drew designs on his sons’ lunch sacks for years, much to the delight of their lunchmates and even some teachers. He also was a gifted story teller.
He was the designated family remember-er, nearly always knowing where something we needed could be found. His memory of events and dates in the past was legendary.
JL married Pamela Ury Schmidt June 14, 1975, in North Platte. He is survived by his wife, sons Ryan (Meghan) Schmidt and Tyler Schmidt of Lincoln; sister Yvonne Alexander of Denver; granddaughters Annika Bowman of North Platte and Lennon Layne Schmidt of Lincoln. Preceded in death by parents Leslie and Esther Schmidt; brother Roger; and sister Barbara Estergard of Nixa, Missouri.
Celebration of life: Saturday, May 4, 10:30 a.m. Southview Baptist Church, 3434 S 13th St., lunch reception following. Private burial in Chapman, Nebraska, Cemetery. lincolnfh.com
In lieu of flowers, memorials go to Southview Baptist Church for later designation to recovery ministries.
If you have a memory/eulogy you’d like to have read at the service (or read in person at the service), please email J.L.’s wife, Pamela, at: pamelaschmidt214@gmail.com
-30- *
*Old-timers in the newspaper business would end a story with -30- to indicate no more information was to follow. It likely dates to the days of the telegraph around the American Civil War. The number 30 was used as the shorthand for “end” or “no more” in Western Union's “92 Code,” produced in 1859. For newspapers, it told the typesetters that this was the end of the story. Although JL’s story on earth is now over, his story in heaven has only begun.
