With profound sadness, we share the unexpected passing of our father and husband Donald Allen Schmitt on July 13, 2024. He was seventy years old.
He is survived by his wife (Polly), daughter (Anna), son (Holton), granddaughter (Lula), three sisters (Ginnie, Patti, Theresa), two brothers (Marc, Wayne), and his beloved dog (Kokomo).
On August 17, 1953, Don was born to Donald James and Donna Mae Schmitt in Yakima, Washington. The fourth of eight children, his youth was highlighted by summer trips to Lake Chelan, storytelling with his father who flew in the ball terret of a B-17 bomber in World War II, learning to play golf in elementary school, and a love for rock hunting. He has passed all of this on to everyone around him.
After attending Catholic high school, he left Yakima to study at the Krishnamurti Institute at Brockwood Park School in the United Kingdom.This experience inspired him to complete an undergraduate degree and become a teacher at Oakgrove, a Krishnamurti school in Ojai, CA. Naturally, he followed his passion for rocks and majored in geology at the University of Washington.
Don and his wife Polly met while teaching at Oakgrove in 1979, and later married in 1985. They were married for 38 years–a period in which he shared his love for the outdoors through camping and hiking with his family in the Cascades and throughout the Pacific Northwest. This connection to nature and creative spirit animated everything that he did as a dad, partner, and business operator.
Recently, he embarked on a journey to reconnect with old friends and create new memories. This past May, he traveled to England with his son Holton to visit Brockwood Park School, marking 50 years since his attendance, and extended his trip to perform an exhaustive search for the best French onion soup Paris has to offer with his friend Mathew. More than anything, he loved his weekly Facetime with his granddaughter.
He will be missed deeply. There will be a celebration of life at the Thirsty Crab in Clinton on Tuesday, July 23 at 3 pm. We welcome finger foods if you care to bring something to share.
