Dr. Dl Schmidt

Dr. DL Schmidt, age 101, of Schleswig, passed away on Friday, December 27, 2024 at the Gracewell Nursing Facility of Denison.  A funeral service will be held on Friday, January 03, 2024 at 10:00 AM at the Immanuel Lutheran Church of Schleswig with the Pastor Merle F. Mahnken officiating.  Burial will be at the Morgan Township Cemetery of Schleswig.  A visitation will be held one hour prior to the service starting at 9:00 AM at the church.

Dayton L. Schmidt was born on July 9, 1923, in Buena Vista County to Dick and Annette (Miller) Schmidt. He attended Alta High School before graduating in 1940. He was raised on a family farm 1/2 mi south of Hanover on the Little Maple River. Their farm was diversified with crops and livestock. It's still in the family today.

In 1943 he enlisted in the military and served as an Air Force Navigator with the 89th Troop Carrier squadron and 438th Troop Carrier squadron along with the Panther Division. He was involved with the European, African and Middle Eastern Theaters including battles of the Rhineland, Ardennes and Central Europe. His squadron provided key supplies to General Patton on his march to Germany and also was a squadron member of the first wave of planes to fly supplies into enemy surrounded troops at the Battle of Bastogne. He received the Air Medal with one oak Leaf cluster, ETO Ribbon with three bronze battle stars, American Campaign Medal, Presidential Unit Citation and World War 11 Victory medal. He was honorably discharged in 1946 with a rank of Second Lieutenant.

After his military service, Dayton attended Westmar College and ultimately graduated from Morningside College with a Bachelor of Science degree.

In November of 1951, Dayton married Gail Schlosser. With that marriage, God blessed them with 4 boys: Fred, Bill, Bob and Don. Dayton entered Veterinary School at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa in the fall of 1952. He graduated with a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine in 1956. He and family moved to Schleswig, Iowa to begin a long and successful large animal practice.

In 1977, God called Gail to rest. In 1978 Doc was united in marriage to Gloria Conover from Holstein, Iowa. With that union brought two stepsons, Kevin and Kim.

Doc enjoyed the outdoors and teaching his boys how to hunt, fish and respect nature. He also thoroughly enjoyed watching his sons participate athletically on the gridiron or the basketball court or whatever venue they participated. He was especially proud of his boys that went on to play collegiate football at SDSU and USD, attending every game they played in.

He continued his passion for flying, and obtained his pilot’s license and enjoyed flying the countryside in his Cessna plane. Many of his friends and family had their first ride in a plane with Doc.

He was an active member of Immanuel Lutheran Church for many years and served as an Elder and various committee positions during that time frame.

He was an active farmer most of his life and loved talking about agriculture. He farmed his own land until he was 83 and enjoyed every bit of it. We always teased him by saying that “he went to Vet school so he could become a farmer.” He was a great steward of the land and was one of the first in the area to practice minimum-till farming. He experienced planting corn with horses to running a large combine during harvest.

Preceding Doc in death were his wife, Gail (1977); his wife, Gloria (2024); son, Bill; parents, Dick and Annette Schmidt; brother, Kenneth, and a step daughter.

Those left behind to savor his memory are son Fred and wife RJ of Hue Hin Thailand, along with Fred’s two children, Linda and Sarah; son, Bob and Carla of Pierre, SD along with their two daughters Krista (Justin) and their children, Audra, Austin and Addison, Anne (Brian) and their children, Will, Allie and Emily; and son, Don of Sioux Falls, SD. He is also survived by stepson, Kevin (Lana) Conover of Holstein, IA and their daughters, Cami and Cortney; and stepson, Kim (Denise) Conover of Holstein, IA and their children Eric and Kyle; and daughter-in-law, Cindy Dapra of Gillette, WY and sons Luke and Zach; as well as numerous great-grandchildren.