James Schmidt , 90, of Minot, passed away Sunday, May 19, 2019 at the Good Samaritan nursing home in Bottineau, ND.

Jim was born May 19, 1929 in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada to Gustav and Erma (Bachel) Schmidt. He later moved with his family to Glaslyn, SK, where his mother and father operated a restaurant.

In 1944, he moved with his family to Minot, ND. One of Jim's most vivid memories was of being delayed at the passenger train border crossing in Portal, ND, overnight, and seeing "Old Glory" waving in the breeze, when he woke up the next morning. The U.S. was the "land of opportunity" to much of the world, as Jim put it.

Jim graduated from St. Leo's High School in 1946 and enlisted in the Air Force on June 19, 1948. On July 21 ^st of 1949 he was united in marriage to Berleen Opland of rural Des Lacs and they started their married life in Moses Lake, WA where Jim was stationed at Larson AFB. Jim was honorably discharged from the Air Force on May 2, 1950 and returned to Minot, where he worked on a relative's farm until gaining employment with M&H service station in 1952, where he worked as assistant and later general manager, until 1962.

He then made a career change and joined Production Credit Association (later Farm Credit Services) where he was employed until 1970, working in both Minot and Bottineau, when he made another change in employment, this time to American State Bank, where he served as Branch Bank Manager in Lansford, ND until his retirement in 1991. He and Berleen moved to Minot in 1995.  Berleen died December 26, 2009.

He was a member of Christ Lutheran church in Minot and was a 24 year member of Trinity Lutheran church in Lansford. He was a longtime member of the BPO Elks, in Minot. Jim was an avid golfer and bowler and spent many an hour watching golf tournaments on TV. He also enjoyed to garden, paint and draw sketches.  Jim loved a good story or a joke, and had lots of them to share with family and friends. He was a very pleasant man, full of smiles and good humor, and will be dearly missed by all who knew him.

He is survived by : his four children, Rhonda (Geoff) Hill of Prescott, AZ, Rod (Ann) Schmidt of Bottineau, ND, Tim (Dalenne) Schmidt of Williston, ND, and Bryan (Alison) Schmidt of Horace, ND, his brother Bob Langford of Portland, OR, 7 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren, with 2 more great-grandchildren on the way along with numerous nieces and nephews.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents, wife of 60 years Berleen, brother Roland and sister Pearl.

Celebration of Life service : 1:00 p.m. Friday, May 24, 2019 at Christ Lutheran Church, Minot.
Interment : Rosehill Memorial Park, Minot.
Visitation : Thursday, May 23, 2019 from 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. in Thomas Family Funeral Home, Minot.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Christ Lutheran Church Foundation, Minot.

Jim Schmidt Flowers