Vernetta Marcia Schmidt, 86

Vernetta Marcia Schmidt was called home by our Lord, Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010, after a brief illness at Kootenai Medical Center. She was a wife, mother, grandma, great-grandma, counselor and friend and will be greatly missed by those whose lives she touched.

She was born in Gettysburg, S.D., on July 27, 1924, to Alfred Leo and Ethel Louise Hayes. She grew up on a farm and attended a two-room country school with her older sister Vivian. The family moved to Idaho in 1942, where her father found work as a carpenter at Farragut. She met and married Wayne Whitely, a Lt. in the Air Force, in 1944. He was reported MIA on July 27, 1945.

She later worked as a telephone operator and it was there that she met Donald Schmidt, who owned the local taxi service. They began dating and were married on Nov. 17, 1947.

Vernetta was a homemaker and devoted herself to her family. Like her sister, she loved to knit and also worked on crafts and tended her flowers and continued till slowed by arthritis. It bothered her that she had never gotten her High School Diploma so she studied and received her GED. She also enjoyed writing and took classes to write children's stories, drawing from her own childhood experiences.

She is survived by son, Ron and his wife, Linda; granddaughter Jodie and her husband, Chad DeVore; great-granddaughters, Kyra, McKenna and Keely of Rathdrum; granddaughter Krista and her husband, Chad Summers; great-granddaughters, Katlyn and Avery of Priest River; daughter Debbie and her husband, Duane; grandson Travis and his fiancee Tia Hoard; and great-granddaughter Lillian of Coeur d'Alene. She is also survived by two nieces, Pam Whitaker and Sandi Mack.

Vernetta was preceded in death by her husband, Don in June 2009 and her sister, Vivian Scott in November of this year.

A visitation will be held from 5-7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 20, 2010, at English Funeral Chapel, 1133 N. Fourth St., Coeur d'Alene. Graveside services will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010, at Coeur d'Alene Memorial Gardens, 7315 N. Government Way, Coeur d'Alene, with Rev. Vicenta Cisneros, officiating.

Donations may be made in Vernetta's name to the Humane Society at www.humanesociety.org/donate/

Please sign Vernetta's online guest registry and view her memorial at www.englishfuneralchapel.com. English Funeral Chapel, Coeur d'Alene, has been entrusted to handle the arrangements.