Lessa Schmidt

Services for Lesse Mae Schmidt, 93, Little River, were Saturday, Jan. 8, at Congregational Church, Little River. Burial was at Bean Memorial Cemetery, Little River.
Mrs. Schmidt died Monday, Jan. 3, 2011, at Sandstone Heights Nursing Home, Little River.
She was born July 1, 1917, in Aquilla Texas, the daughter of Romey and Willie Wilson Hall.
Mrs. Schmidt lived in Little River from the late 1940s until 1975. From 1975 until 1992, she lived in Topeka, then retired back to Little River.
She was a registered nurse in hospitals, in Lyons, Little River, Topeka, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Corpus Christi, Texas. She helped start the Rice County Health Depart. and Sandstone Heights Nursing Home, serving on the first board. She retired from Veterans Administration Nursing Service in 1984.
Mrs. Schmidt graduated from high school in Lott, Texas, and Providence Hospital School of Nursing, Waco, Texas.
She served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War II, stationed in England, Paris, Belgium and Germany.
She was a member of Congregational Church, Women’s Fellowship and Senior Center, all of Little River.
In December 1946 in Reno, Nev., she married Dr. Alfred Schmidt. They later divorced.
Survivors include three daughters, Paula (Timothy) Donohue, Baldwin City, Kristen (Ed) Wilson, Eastsound, Wash., and Kelly Schmidt, Lawrence; a sister, Nell Urban, Houston; 10 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
A son, John Schmidt, died earlier.
The family suggests memorials to Sandstone Heights Nursing Home, sent in care of Birzer Funeral Home, P.O. Box 89, Lyons, KS 67554.