Death of UW Alumnus James R. Schmitz ’58

A cherished husband, father, grandfather, and friend, James R. “Jim” Schmitz left his pain and suffering from Alzheimer’s disease behind on July 15, 2025. He was born on July 25, 1936, the son of Sylvester & Norma Ella Lexa (Wendorff) Schmitz, in Sparta, WI. He married Linda Marty on January 2, 1993.

He attended St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran School and Sparta High School, graduating in the class of 1954. He attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, majoring in business and graduating in 1958.

He worked in the consumer finance industry starting in Madison at Household Finance Corporation in 1958. Later he managed offices in Watertown, WI, Rockford, IL, Indianapolis, IN and Janesville WI. In 1966, he began working for the former First Wisconsin National Bank (now USBank) in Milwaukee and in 1968 moved to Waunakee to be President of the First Wisconsin Bank of Waunakee (formerly Waunakee State Bank), retiring after 25 years of service. After retirement, he spent five years working at the Wisconsin Housing & Economic Development Authority and then worked as Credit Committee Officer of the Heritage (now Conexus) Credit Union until 2002 when he fully retired.

In service of his country, Jim was commissioned after completing the ROTC program as a student at the UW–Madison. In 1959, Jim served his first tour of active army duty as a military police officer at Fort Gordon, Georgia, and Fort Sheridan, IL. In 1961, he again was called to active duty during the Berlin Crisis, where he served as the 1st Lieutenant Platoon Leader of Third Platoon, Company A, 232d Transportation Unit, 32nd Infantry Division, Wisconsin National Guard at Fort Lewis, WA, until August 1962.

Jim’s heart was in Waunakee, where he raised his three children and was a proud member of the community. He was a founding/charter member of Peace Lutheran Church and served as church council president and chair of the church’s building committee. He was a cofounder of Waunakee’s Rotary Chapter, serving as its president in 1973-74, and was a recipient of a Paul Harris Fellowship award. He served as president of the Waunakee Scholarship Fund, sponsored the Waunafest Run for many years, and was a member of Waunakee American Legion Post 360, serving in their honor guard.

Jim enjoyed life and lived it to the fullest, as proven with so many great stories and shenanigans. He had many interests and loved spending time with family and friends. He was an avid Badger backer through and through. He loved to “get the red out!” and was a season ticket holder for football, basketball and hockey. Some of his best times were at his Badger tailgate parties. There were always lots of people, food, drink and the handing out of his Bucky stickers. His tailgate parties were featured in the Wisconsin State Journal. He was a longtime fan of jazz, supporting his wife’s work as president of the Madison Jazz Society, where they met, and attending music events whenever he could. After Jim retired, he started one of his favorite hobbies, gardening. He had a large garden not far from their condo. People often stopped by, and he was happy to give them a tour and some produce to take with them. He also had a small stand at the condo for people to grab free veggies. An all-time favorite family event was the annual deer hunting trip. Everyone was involved whether you were hunting, cooking, drinking, shopping or having Friday Fish Fry at the local watering hole with the grandkids. He loved to have his family around him for dinner, with himself at the head of the table. Oh, the stories that were told! Jim also enjoyed annual trips to Brewer Spring Training in Arizona and the Indy 500 race in Indianapolis, trips to New Orleans, going to grandkids’ sporting events, babysitting and his favorite salmon patty dinners with Lori, Mike and Javier.

He was preceded in death by his parents, an infant brother John and his in-laws Maxine & Lincoln Marty.

He is survived by his loving wife and dedicated caregiver, Linda Marty Schmitz, his beloved children — Lori (Peter Bergmann) Schmitz; Scott (Kara) Schmitz; Mike (Cindy) Schmitz; his adored grandchildren Javier Flores, Alexa (Tanner) Hayes; Quinn (Christine) Schmitz, Molly Schmitz, Emily Schmitz, Ryan Schmitz, Samantha Schmitz, Gabrielle Schmitz, Victoria Schmitz and Josephine Schmitz; and his brothers-in-law Allan Marty and Steve (Kathy) Marty.