Sylvester Schmit

Sylvester A. Schmit, 89, of Hospers, IA died peacefully in his sleep at home on Saturday, August 24, 2024.

Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 30, 2024 at St. Anthony Catholic Church in Hospers, IA, with Fr. Daniel Greving officiating. Burial will follow at St. Anthony Cemetery in Hospers. Graveside military honors will be conducted by Reuter Post 423 American Legion of Hospers. Visitation with family present will be Thursday from 4-7 p.m., there will be a K of C Rosary and Vigil Prayer Service at 5 p.m. all at the church in Hospers. Visitation will resume from 9:30-10:15 a.m. on Friday at the church. 

Following the funeral dinner after the burial, please join us for a celebration of life memorial tractor show in memory of Sylvester at the farm.  4188 Marsh Ave. Hospers, IA.

Sylvester was born on November 2, 1934, in rural Hospers, Iowa the son of Clemens J. and Mathilda M. (Gloden) Schmit. After graduating eighth grade from St. Anthony Catholic School in Hospers, Sylvester started working on the family farm with his dad and his brother, Harold.

In December 1954, Sylvester joined the Army, serving his country in Germany until December 1956. Upon his honorable discharge from the Army, he returned to the family farm.

Sylvester married Germaine Stallmann on September 23, 1958, at St. Anthony Catholic Church. They made their home on the family farm near Hospers, where they raised their five children.

Sylvester dedicated his life to steadfastly caring for his family and the family farm. 

Sylvester was a farmer. He began farming at age 15 and continued for 75 years with his sons and grandsons until the time of his death. Sylvester also enjoyed raising Longhorn cattle and collecting International Harvester tractors. In 1970, he received Iowa’s Master Pork Producer Award.

Sylvester was also the pillar of his family. He cared for his wife, Germaine, for many decades as she battled an illness. Each year, Sylvester gathered family and friends at the farm for the Schmit Farms Tractor Show, to ride tractors and feed the animals. In the fall, Sylvester’s family would join him for rides on the combine during harvest. Sylvester also enjoyed attending his grandchildren’s and great-grandchildren’s events, even if he had to turn the volume down on his hearing aids.

Sylvester was a member of St. Anthony’s and a past board member of the church. He was also a member of the Knights of Columbus and served on the Spalding Catholic School Board and the local Co-op Elevator board. 

Left to cherish his memory are his five children, David (Lori) Schmit of Sioux City, IA; Michael Schmit of Hospers, IA; Gary (Amy) Schmit of Iowa City, IA; Mark (Sherri) Schmit of Cape Fair, MO; and Denise (Charles) Witcombe of Victoria, MN; his fourteen grandchildren, Daniel (Lindsey) Schmit, Bryan (Angela) Schmit, Michelle (Jesse) Rusk, Matthew Schmit, Bill (Fay) Schmit, Kim Promes, Jorie Schmit, Andrew Schmit, Rachel Schmit, Jessica Schmit, Marissa (Zack) West, Jeffrey (Elizabeth) Schmit, Libby Witcombe, and Lucy Witcombe; his eleven great-grandchildren, Madelyn and Christopher Schmit; Emma, Juliet, and Isabella Schmit; Evelyn Rusk; Hayden and Hayley Schmit; Gabriel Promes; and Ayden and Lexi Schmit; his siblings, Jerry Den Hartog of Orange City, IA and Cyril Schmit of Remsen, IA; and his in-laws, Bea Schmit, Joan Klein, John Stallmann, Marlene Pape, Joyce and Dennis Holles, David and Connie Stallmann, Judy Stallmann, Karen Dagel-Whitham, Steve and Debbie Stallmann, Tom Stallmann, Brenda Stallmann, and Nick and Dianna Stallmann. He is also survived by many nieces, nephews, and extended family.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Germaine; his granddaughter, Ashley Schmit; his siblings, Harold Schmit, Bernice Block, Lucy De Roos, and Eleanor Marie Schmit; and his in-laws, Clarence and Catherine Stallmann, Oscar Block, Dewain De Roos, Neal Den Hartog, George Kersten, Clarice Schmit, Norbert Klein, Tony Pape, Mary Jane Stallmann and Gordon Schofer, Dianne Stallmann, Alice and Marvin Crayton, John Dagel, Jim Whitham, and Tom Bremmer.

“And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, ‘I need a caretaker,’ so God made a farmer.”