Verna Schmidt

Verna Cox was born on November 4, 1925 to Avery and Mildred (Borst) Cox in Becker, MN. With ten other siblings, Verna loved growing up on the farm working in the garden and playing in the hay barn. She especially loved that her family could provide a meal to friends and strangers alike during the Great Depression with the harvest from their garden. Verna’s spirit of generosity and hospitality continued as she grew up. As a young woman, she moved to Minneapolis, getting a job at Pillsbury Flour company. She sent most of her paycheck back to the farm to help with expenses. When she moved to Colorado to help her older sister take care of her children, Verna’s life changed forever. Shortly after she moved, she met and married a handsome veteran just returned from World War II by the name of Vernon Eugene Schmidt (Gene). After some time, the young couple moved their growing family to Minnesota to raise their five children in the northeast area of Minneapolis. Verna was always willing to have a few extra kids at the dinner table and her Betty Crocker cookbook was well loved. She was the typical 1950’s wife, taking care of the household, sewing the families clothing, and even selling Avon on the side. Although she loved the neighborhood over ‘Nordeast’, Gene decided to retire early and brought Verna kicking and screaming to a little farmstead outside of Arlington, South Dakota. She refused to leave however, and she spent the next 40+ years here. Hosting countless family events, baking endless loaves of the best homemade bread this side of heaven, Verna always had a spare seat at the dinner table for friends and strangers alike. Her later retirement years were spent having coffee and cards with the gals, traveling around the country, and celebrating milestones with her family. Verna peacefully went home to heaven at 3:08 pm on Sunday, April 18, at the age of 95, surrounded by her family. Verna was preceded in death by her parents, all of her siblings and husband Vernon. Verna is survived by her five children Norma Pfaffendorf (Steve), Jackie Wiess (Ken Niemann), Roger Schmidt (Kathy), Deby Ziesmer (Mark), Jim Schmidt (Barb). 12 grandchildren , Deanna, Jason, Richard, Jenifer, Brad, Tanna, Lori, Adam, James, Keith, Faydra, and Taylor along with their spouses, her 31 great-grandchildren, her 12 great-great grandchildren, and many, many friends and extended family. Verna’s loving and generous heart will be forever missed by all of us.