The funeral service for Lorna Schmidt, 91, of Willmar, formerly of Vesta, will be Monday, December 19, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Vesta. A livestream of the service will be available on the church’s Facebook page. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will take place after the service at the Vesta Cemetery. The Sunset Funeral & Cremation Association in Echo is handling the arrangements.
Lorna Joanne (Voss) Schmidt was born on January 4, 1931, in Echo, to Walter and Marie (Bottcher) Voss. She grew up in Echo and graduated from Echo High School. She attended St. Cloud Teacher’s College and taught in Sacred Heart, Wood Lake, and Vesta. On April 6, 1952, Lorna was united in marriage to Darwin Schmidt at Peace Lutheran Church in Echo. The couple moved to Wichita, KS, briefly, before settling on the Schmidt family farm. In addition to farming, Darwin ran several businesses over the years, and Lorna was the bookkeeper for all of them. Lorna’s faith was important to her, and she prayed every day. In her free time, Lorna enjoyed taking care of her flower gardens. When the children were growing up, the family took many camping trips. In 1997, Lorna and Darwin traveled to Germany to meet her cousins. In recent years, Lorna became an avid Minnesota sports fan, particularly the Twins, Timberwolves, and Lynx. She also enjoyed reading newspapers to keep up with local and national news. Lorna’s favorite time was that spent with family.
Lorna died on Tuesday, December 13, 2022, at her residence in Willmar.
She is survived by her children Laurie Benck, Julie (Dave) Worden, Jon (Becky) Schmidt, Debra (Todd) Larson, and Wendy (Duane) Pepin; grandchildren Brian Benck, Josh (Michelle) Benck, Autumn (James) Mickelson, Melanie (fiancé Andrew) Sjoberg, Nathaniel (fiancée Marissa) Schmidt, Ashley (Matthew) Lynch, Savannah Larson, and Brady Larson; great-grandchildren Evelyn Benck, Alden Benck, Laila Mickelson, Jailyn Mickelson, Rylee Schmidt, Keelen Campbell, Vincent Lynch, Ophelia Lynch, and Darla Lynch; sister-in-law Mavis Rolland; as well as many other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Darwin, and sister Natalie Potter.
