Mildred Schmid still quite active and busy at 101

By Editor | August 27, 2014 |

Mildred Schmid was born on Aug. 26, 1913, and is observing her 101th birthday in the rural home that she shares with her son, Eddie.

An amazing little lady, she does her own housework and cooking, still makes jelly and has a yard full of flowers that not only look pretty in a charming, old-fashioned way, but also attracts hummingbirds, which could be seen flitting around the flowers.
She smiled when she saw that her sister, Hazel Stevenson, was going to be present for the interview at her home, which their father had built in 1910, and had been renovated when she moved into it some years ago.
There is a comfortable little sitting/dining-room area, just off her modern little kitchen. A TV, the dining table and two small padded rocking chairs occupy the space.
When the nearby telephone rings, she gets out of her chair and goes to answer it with agile and, apparently effortless, movement.
Small and petite in stature, she is strong in ability, physically and mentally,
Meet Mildred Schmid, who shared her 101st birthday, and her story.
The Early Years
Mildred started at Shobonier School at age 5 and continued on through Shobonier High School until her senior year. She then attended and graduated from Vandalia High School, as the Shobonier high school provided only three years of education.
She was 16 when she graduated and attended Eastern Illinois Teachers’ College in Charleston, where she received her degree for teaching.
Her first teaching job was at Virden School in Ramsey, where she taught for three years. She also taught in the Stringtown, Shobonier and Ramsey schools.
She recalled staying with the Leroy Moreland family in Ramsey and riding a horse to school when she taught there.
She would have to go to the schools early and build a fire to get the schoolroom warm before the children came to school.
She taught for five years, until she married. “They wouldn’t let you be a teacher if you married,” she said.
Starting a Family
Mildred met Edward Schmid while she was teaching at Heckthorne School, near the area where he lived. At first, she said, they lived with her parents, on “the Mound,” an area along the road from Shobonier going toward Augsburg. “Then Ed rented a house near the school.”
Mildred and Ed had seven children: Billy, David, Carol, Michael (“Mickey”) Judy, Eddie and Mary. Sister Hazel recalled that she used to baby-sit some of her sister’s children.
Farmer’s Wife Housewife and Mother
Edward was a farmer and Mildred sometimes helped him at farming.
She was also busy as a mother as she sewed and made most of the children’s clothes.
“Edward farmed for himself and other people that farmed,” she said. “He would run the combine, and helped with threshing for other people. During the Depression, we worked day and night, farming for us and for other people. The worst thing was when we worked the bottoms,” she said.
She cooked for her family, from scratch, from what they raised in the garden and on their farm. They butchered and had their own beef, pork and chickens. The butchering also provided them with lard for cooking, frying and pastry.
She recalled that they ground the sausage by hooking the grinder onto the back of the car and spinning the wheel.
She canned everything she could – the garden produce and the meat, and most likely, any wild produce, such as berries, for jelly, jam, cobblers and pies.
She made the bread and dessert was pie, cobbler, cookies, etc., all made from scratch, cooked over or in a coal or wood stove for a family of seven children and a husband.
“We didn’t buy hardly anything,” she said. Flour, sugar and probably coffee, were the main grocery items bought.
She learned quilting and sewing from her mother and made shirts and other clothing for her family.
She also did laundry, washing and ironing for her large family.
Hobbies? She was too busy for hobbies.
“I just did what Ed said,” she said.
And today …
… she still is doing much of what she was busy doing while caring for her family.
She doesn’t have to make everything from scratch now, but she still makes jelly, cooks, cleans house, etc.
She did comment that she doesn’t take care of Eddie’s bedroom, “He can do that himself,” she said.
She loves to quilt and still makes beautiful hand-sewn quilts. She has several made ahead.
She enjoys giving them away for Christmas gifts and also uses some of them when she has overnight company. She has recently finished one and is working on another. The hand-made stitches are small and uniform.
She has good eyesight, needing glasses only for reading. She seems to have no problem hearing, nor with mobility and has a good memory.
She and sister Hazel were laughing while recalling a time when the roads were muddy and their car kept sliding from side to side.
She also remembered her first car, a Ford roadster, which she used to get to school to teach.
Their grandfather Albert homesteaded a large amount of property in Shobonier in 1840, and her home is on that land. They said that the last name was originally Aubert and eventually became Albert.
Whatever the name, his granddaughter, Mildred “Midge,” has contributed to the honor and respect of the name.