June 15, 1936 – February 23, 2025
Rev. Warren Walter Schmidt, 88, died peacefully in the Good Shepherd Care Community in Concordia, Missouri on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025.
Warren was born on June 15, 1936, in Salina, Kansas to the late Rev. Walter G. Schmidt and Emma (Russmann) Schmidt. As a youth he enjoyed playing baseball, becoming a life-long Chicago White Sox fan. He avidly rooted for his children and grandchildren in their various sporting and extracurricular activities. He attended St. John’s College in Winfield, Kansas, where he met his loving wife of 64 years, Ardella Anderson. After graduating there, he went to Concordia Seminary (St. Louis, Missouri), where he earned a Master of Sacred Theology degree with a major in New Testament and a minor in Old Testament and wrote a thesis on the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Warren is survived by his wife, Ardella; his brother, Charles; his three children, Rachel Schmidt Brown, Luther Schmidt, and Joanna Schmidt Egbert; his grandchildren, Samuel Schmidt, Esther Schmidt-Brown, Simon Schmidt, Abigail Schmidt-Brown, and Elise Egbert; his great-granddaughter, June Schmidt; his daughter-in-law, Andrea Schmidt; his sons-in-law, Todd Egbert and Kenneth Brown; and his granddaughters-in-law, Devon Schmidt and Meredith Schmidt. He was a loyal, loving spouse and a devoted father and grandfather who supported his children and grandchildren generously as they pursued their interests and educations.
For almost 50 years he served as an ordained Lutheran minister. He provided pastoral care, teaching, and guidance, preached the Word, and offered the sacraments to the following congregations: Immanuel Lutheran Church, Fairfield, Iowa; Messiah Lutheran Church, Hays, Kansas; Immanuel Lutheran Church, Rolla, Missouri; St. Paul Lutheran Church, Clay Center, Kansas; Trinity Lutheran Church, Colby, Kansas; and Zion Lutheran Church, Pocahontas, Arkansas. He appreciated a variety of challenges, serving, among other churches, a mission congregation, a campus ministry, and a small rural congregation.
The funeral service will be held at 11:00 am Tuesday, March 4, 2025, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Concordia, MO, with Pastors Michael Pottschmidt and Andrew Lehenbauer officiating. Memorials are suggested to Saint Paul Lutheran High School or Lutheran Bible Translators.
Services:
Visitation:
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 401 S. Main St., Concordia, MO, Tuesday, March 4, 2025, 10 – 11:00 am
Funeral:
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 401 S. Main St., Concordia, MO, Tuesday, March 4, 2025, at 11:00 am
Committal:
St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery – Concordia, following funeral service
Arrangements: Campbell-Lewis Funeral Home, 1002 E. 1st St, Concordia, MO 64020.