Verlyn F. Schmitt

Verlyn Francis Schmitt, aka “Schmitty,” “Fat,” and “The Gambler,” cashed in his chips at the poker table of this earth on October 10, 2024. He lived a long and colorful life, born in 1928 as the ninth of twelve children to Frank and Mary Schmitt, in Rickardsville, Iowa. He taught himself to read with the Li’l Abner comics in the newspaper. Saw his first automobile at five years old. At nine, he took a daring joy ride, and his lifelong love of cars was born. He married Blanche Borden in 1949, was married for 37 years, and raised eight children. He farmed in Bankston and Graf for many years. With just a fifth-grade education, he could do algebra in his head. This gift served him well when he gambled professionally in the second half of his life. He set records in the game of euchre, played in the World Series of Poker, and has been mentioned in several published books about card playing. Schmitty was also a good dancer and baseball player in his youth. He loved guns and was a crack shot. Schmitty may have kept the chocolate milk industry alive with his three-gallon-per-week habit. He was a big fan of Johnny Cash, Willy Nelson, and classic country music. He produced homemade wine from the fruits in his garden. He loved horses and dogs. After seeing a rodeo cowboy stand upright atop a horse at full gallop, he taught himself to do the same. He was a proficient, self-taught leather artist, creating hundreds of bracelets and watch bands and customizing his cherished saddle. His interests, beyond games of skill, were astronomy, Native American and cowboy culture, and history. He was an adventurous learner. A self-made man, Schmitty was comfortable in his own skin and never tried to be anything but what he was. 

 Schmitty was preceded in death by his parents, Francis Schmitt and Mary (Weidemann) Schmitt, siblings Marie (Kelly) Even, Evelyn (Elmer) Lucas, Leo Schmitt, Geneva (Charles) Arlen, Selena (Dale) Waters, Jerome (Josephine) Schmitt, LaVern (Lillian) Schmitt, Eldon (Joan) Schmitt, Luella (Virgil) Hammerand, and Doris Schmitt, and a son, Steve (Mary) Schmitt; many horses and dogs, including his beloved “Pal.” He leaves one sibling, Arnita (Bob) Erickson, seven children, Reggie (Suzie), Tom (Diane), Peggy (Sam), Brenda, David, Penny (Wally), and Tim (Michelle), seventeen grandchildren, twenty-six great-grandchildren, and hundreds of nieces, nephews, friends, and cardplayers. 

 Funeral mass will be 10:30 a.m., Saturday, October 19, 2024 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Bellevue, Iowa. Family will greet friends 9:00 a.m. to mass time at the church. A luncheon at Horizon Hall will follow. 

 We release Schmitty, not just to heaven, but also back to his first and enduring love--the land. 

Local arrangements entrusted with Hachmann-Mier Funeral Home & Cremation Service in Bellevue.