MILDRED H. SCHMIDT
Family Group Sheet | Obituary/death certificate

SIXTH CHILD OF Bernard Schmidt & Elizabeth Wilke

Mildred Henerita Schmidt was born on Dec. 2, 1909, at 3005 Henshaw Ave. in Camp Washington, Ohio. She was baptized at Sacred Heart. She lived at Henshaw until she was 9 years old and then the family moved to Chase Ave. on the North Side of Cincinnati. Until she was 9 she went to Sacred Heart on Marshal Ave. Then she went to St. Bonifice (The German Catholic Church as compared to St. Patrick, the Irish Catholic Church.) Her brothers went swimming in the canal but Mildred wasn't allowed. The canal froze over in the winter so she went sledriding then. Millie walked about a mile and a half to school, and came home for lunch every day. They had no electricity while at Henshaw, but they had it put into the house on Chase Ave. Not everyone on Henshaw had toilet, so about once a week the cleaner would come to clean out the outhouses. On Henshaw, they had a bathtub on the second floor. They had to carry pails of water from the kitchen sink up the stairs. They took the bathtub with them when they moved to the North Side. They kept it out back in the summer and could fill it with cold water and sit in it.

On Mother's Day 19?? Millie's sister and husband were over the Kenkel house visiting their mother Elizabeth (who lived with Millie and Larry ) when Millie went into Labor with her third child, Jerome. They rushed to the hospital and got there just in time. However, there was a problem with the labor, and Jerry was "born to fast" and needed medical attention. At that time, hospitals kept new mothers for 10 days - so for 10 days Millie was kept in the hospital but unable to see her newborn son! To make matters worse, she was still in the maternity ward (ironically sharing a room with one of Larry's friend's sister) so every few hours her roommate would get her infant to feed and Millie would be forcefully reminded that her own child was near death. As she remembered over 40 years later, it was one of the worst times in her life, and she spent much of those 10 days lying in bed crying.

Finally, after 10 days Millie was released from the hospital, and as she left they wheeled her past the nursery and held Jerry up to the window so she could see him for the first time! At that time Jerry was being fed through tubes in the veins in his head! Jerome was kept in the hospital an additional 2 weeks before he was released home. We should mention that Jerry is a (very) large, strapping, healthy speciman and that the hospital stay sure didn't seem to hurt him any!

Hmmm - I seem to be missing the story of her marriage to Larry Kenkel , so I'll have to dig that out of my records and add it here.

Millie and her husband Larry had three children, JoAnn, James, and Jerry.

Millie was the center of the family, and they gathered around her every chance they could. Even though the Kenkel children were each spaced approximately 5 years apart (and consequently had very little in common as children), as they got older meeting for family holidays became an important tradition. Until the day she died Millie always had her entire family, including grandchildren and eventually a great grand child, at her side. Thanksgiving was also and loving time, with family members "racing" eachother in Cincinnati's Great Race and awarding the member with the most improved time a large (ugly) Turkey Trophey. The awards were complete with lenghy acceptance speachs and photos of "grandma" awarding the trophy. Each summer the extended family would get together for the "Kenkel Classic" and the family would play golf (again for a gaudy trophy) and try not to kill other golfers with their errant shots.

Millie LOVED having her family around her, and reveled in the stories of their outings. She often went to polka dances with her daughter JoAnn and was a well known sight at such functions. Even in her late 80s, "grandma" always made it to Pittsburgh for fourth of July to see Grandkids, and for many years went to Polka fest at a nearby ski resort.

She was a very independant person, and lived on her own in the family home until she died.

Even until the very end Millie was of sound mind and cantankerous as always. As she lay in critical care she said to her son Jim, "I want you to talk to the doctors to see if they will let me go home." Jim replied. "I don't think they'll let you go Mom." Millie: "TRY!" Even as she got sicker she inquired about softball games (Did you win?) and instructed her daughter where to find her son Jim's anniversary card and when to send it.

Milldred Schmidt Kenkel died peacefully on Thursday August 7, 1997 at 2:15 in the afternoon in The Franciscan Health Care Center, Western Hills Campus. (Formally St.Francis-St. George) She died very peacefully, with her family around her holding her hands and saying goodbye. She was buried with her polka bells, her dancing shoes, and a photo of her beloved great-grandson!