Gerald D Schmidt, 71, Stanley, peacefully left this world on Friday, December 2nd, 2011 while working on his truck outside Tea Leaves and Sagebrush, an antique shop he was moving out of to relax and begin enjoying his retirement. Funeral service will be held at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, December 10th at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, Max.

Gerald had recently suffered a heart attack in July and had been treated for a heart condition which had hospitalized him 3 times over the past year; he also had a pacemaker implanted at that time. He had been improving in his health recently and had good results on recent checkups, so his recent attack was a surprise.

He was born May 4th, 1940 in Max ND, son of Wilson & Odelia Schmidt. He was the second youngest of five children. Gerald grew up on the farm and was active in sports at Max High School where he was a member of the State Champion Cossacks in 1958. He enjoyed sports and many extra curricular activities and also worked on the family farm with his brothers and sisters.
After graduating high school in Max, Gerald attended the School of Forestry in Bottineau, and eventually graduated from NDSU with degrees in Botany and Animal Husbandry and where he also met his future wife Trudy Krug.
Gerald and Trudy were married and moved to Minot where he worked for the Federal Land Bank and was a loan officer and farm appraiser. After many years working there, Gerald decided to follow in his father's footsteps and begin farming. Throughout his life he worked with horses and cattle and his love of animals led to a life long passion for riding, both to work with the cattle on the farm and in many rodeos. He bred registered Shorthorn cattle and raised two state fair champion show cattle. One was shown by his daughter Michelle, and another shown by his son Steve.

Later in life Gerald pursued his love of western North Dakota culture by researching and collecting western art and antiques by opening an antique shop on Main St in Stanley, ND. He worked with his partner for 7 years to collect any and all things antique and from Western North Dakota and also enjoyed attending auction & estate sales to add to his collection.

Gerald is survived by his daughter, Michelle Gehring, Garrison; son, Steve, Hopkins MN; and son Chris; New York City; grandchildren, Drew Gehring, Garrison, Jessica Gehring, Minneapolis, Terry Schumacher, Columbia Heights MN; brother, Elmer, Portland, OR; sisters, Marlene Sorenson, Blaine MN, and Lorraine, Bismarck.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Wilson and Odelia Schmidt; and brother, Arnold.