John Schmidt loves people. Born in Milwaukee, WI to an engineer dad and a stay-at-home mom, he joined the Air Force at 18 years old. He would meet his future wife, Phyllis, who was also in the Air Force when they were both stationed in Sacramento, CA. They were married in 1958 by a chaplain at the base.
The next year, their son John was born. And the year after that, their daughter Jill completed their family. The Schmidt family moved to Melbourne, FL where after 23 years, John retired from the Air Force. He made printers and card punches before landing a job with Honeywell working on the space shuttle’s computer system. His final job before retirement was working on a drone program at Harris Corporation for Lockheed Martin. “That was a fun job!” John exclaimed.
John would’ve happily continued working on the interface and testing of drones when his daughter called with the news that she was pregnant with their first grandchild. John and Phyllis decided to move to Tallahassee to help raise their granddaughter, Lindsay.
John and Phyllis loved helping raise Lindsay. They took her on an annual vacation to Shades of Green in Orlando. John taught her how to drive a car – he taught many of her friends how to drive. When Phyllis became ill, Lindsay moved her wedding date up by a year just so her grandmother could attend.
In 2022, Phyllis passed away. John had been her loving caregiver. With Lindsay grown and living in Orlando, John needed social interaction. His daughter Jill encouraged him to visit the Tallahassee Senior Center. John stopped by a few times but at the encouragement of his daughter, on the third visit he took a tour. John attended the Friends Connection group and found his home. “I can’t live without friends,” he explains.
John soon became an indispensable part of Friends Connection. Then he started taking fitness classes like Brain, Body, Balance and Mindful Movement. John thought, “What can I do?” and soon he found himself serving on the TSC Advisory Council, the membership committee, and most recently he is the volunteer check-in at Brain Body Balance. He takes his role seriously by attending the monthly Coalition on Aging meetings that typically just staff attends – “you learn so much!” he says.
Then John started volunteering at the monthly TSC Coffee Chat meetings that introduce new participants to the various programs offered at the Senior Center. John, ever the ambassador, takes new participants on tours and has been known to share his personal cellphone number with those participants who seem shy, hesitant, or overwhelmed. He relates to that feeling because he felt the same way when he first visited. He enjoys making others feel welcome and at ease.
For the past several years, John has been volunteering at the Tallahassee Rifle & Pistol Club every weekend teaching kids how to use guns safely. His son went to college on a shooting scholarship and his granddaughter enjoyed “shooting trap” with family. One of the young men John mentors just won the Florida Air Rifle championship and the Smallbore Rifle championship.
John enjoys mentoring kids. His advice to people young is “Your word is your promise. Stay honest and true to it.” John practices what he preaches.
