Schmidt, Donald F.

Donald F. Schmidt, 80, of Cedar Rapids, passed away Sunday, April 3, 2011, at St. Luke's Hospital. Memorial Service: 11 a.m. Friday at First Lutheran Church by the Rev. Dr. Kay Slocum and the Rev. Craig Brown. Inurnment: Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery with military honors. A visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home and one hour before the service Friday at the church.

Don is survived by his wife of 56 years, Joyce,; children, Janet (Rich) Block and Steve (Mark Downing) Schmidt, all of Cedar Rapids, and Jim Schmidt of Truckee, Calif.; and grandchildren, Lauren and Jason Block.

He was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Kenneth.

Don was born August 18, 1930, in Lincoln, Neb., to Carl and Minnie Schmidt. He married Joyce Hagen on June 2, 1954 in Fargo, N.D. Don had a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering and was employed by Rockwell Collins, until his retirement in 1992.

Don was a member of First Lutheran Church and the Tuesday Noon Optimist Club of Cedar Rapids, where he was involved with the Train Club, Christmas Tree lot, Boys and Girls Club and the Avenue of The Flags project. He was a past president of the Optimist Club from 1976 to 1977. Don volunteered at Theatre Cedar Rapids and Indian Creek Nature Center. His interests included woodworking, annual fishing trips to Canada and family vacations. He played in several bridge groups. Don holds patents on avionic instrumentation for Rockwell Collins. He was proud of his grandchildren and loved spending time with family and friends.

Memorials may be directed to the Boys and Girls Club, the Indian Creek Nature Center or Kids First.

Online condolences may be sent to under obituaries.