Walter Daniel Schmitt (1951 - 2025) Eulogy

 Walter Daniel Schmitt 1951 - 2025

Stephanie Abbott Schmitt, daughter of Margaret (Felin) Abbott and Norman V. Abbott, invited me to give the eulogy for her husband Dan.  Following is that eulogy:

Thank you all for coming to celebrate the life of this remarkable man, Walter Daniel Schmitt.

Walter Daniel Schmitt, “Dan” to his family and friends, 73, of Troy, MO, passed away on March 5, 2025, at his home while surrounded by his loving family. Through the last months of his illness, his loving wife, Stephanie, rarely left his side.  As he needed more intense care, his two sons, Nathan and Jacob, jumped in to help.  This family is a living example of love and service.  

Dan was born on September 20, 1951, in St. Louis, MO, to Walter Jacob and Jacquelyn Roberta (Meyer) Schmitt. He attended the local schools, along with his two sisters. At age 16 he lost his sight in a hunting accident.  He attended a school for the newly blind and was able to return to Fort Zumwalt later the same year.  He graduated with his class in 1969.  He obtained his associate’s degree, then graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UMSL in 1972.   Dan showed astonishing fortitude, courage, grit, and intelligence through that tragedy, the difficult adjustment to living without sight, and his subsequent success in college.  

On October 17, 1981, after a four-month courtship, Dan was united in marriage with Stephanie (Abbott). Stephanie is my niece, her late mother, Margaret, my sister.  From the beginning Dan was accepted and loved by all our family.  To this union were born three children, Jessica, Nathan and Jacob. 

Jack, his four-legged companion, was a huge part of Dan’s life.  He and Stephanie loved all animals, big and small. Dan could be described by his family and friends as strong, kind, energetic, easy going, accepting, capable, and determined. He was funny, strong-willed, intelligent, opinionated, wise beyond his years, and he never let anything stop him.  And he was a whiz at playing Monopoly.  He was an amazing husband, father, son, grandfather, and friend.  And I would add, nephew.  Dan was truly a Gentle Man. 

Catrina, Dan’s sister-in-law, wrote eloquently about him:  “Dan has been my big brother for 44 years.  He taught me to whistle.  He taught me to read braille.  He taught me how to put a minnow on a hook.  He taught me that being a prayer warrior and ceaselessly praying was the greatest thing you can do for someone.  He taught me that to laugh was everything, and his laugh was the best!  He taught me that to truly see something or someone, not to look just with my eyes.   He taught me that just because someone has what the world calls a handicap doesn’t mean they are disabled.  Dan, one of the greatest cooks I’ve known.  Dan, the lover of music and, gosh, could he sing!.  Dan, the reader who read everything.  Dan, the best husband who knew how to love his woman.” 

I knew Dan as a man of deep faith, a faith he shared with his wife, his daughter, his two sons and his broader world.  Dan got his faith the hard way; he earned it.  His was a life visited by tragedy--blinded at 16 in a hunting accident, father to first-born Jessica who was plagued by health issues from birth to her death at age 4 1/2, and a loving caregiver to his wife when she went through her own bout with cancer.  I don’t believe Dan’s faith wavered even when he knew his time with us was growing short.

It's a strange fact that the people who possess the deepest and most enduring faith and love for others are often those whose lives have been visited and upended by tragedy, tragedy they overcame to claim a new broader, more full-filling, joyful life.  Dan and Stef have taught me that strange fact time and again.  There is one emotion that is a clear signal we are on the right path, that emotion is joy.  Dan was on the right path, and I trust still is.

Rose F. Holt

3/11/25