Gary Schminke

Gary Glen Schminke was born December 4, 1948, to Victor and Hazel (Price) Schminke in Van Horne, Iowa. He passed away on May 5, 2020, at the Comfort House in Pella, with wife Linda, daughter Cindy and a special nurse, Barb Van Gorp, by his side.

Gary was a 1967 graduate of Vinton High School, and Area 10 Community College/Kirkwood in Cedar Rapids,  On March 15, 1969, Gary was united in marriage to his high school sweetheart Linda in Vinton, Iowa.  Gary entered in the U.S. Army on April 2, 1969, attained the rank of Spec 5, and was honorably discharged on April 1, 1971, spending most of his service time at Ft. Bliss, Texas.

Following his formal education, Gary was self-employed in various entrepreneurial ventures that most often found his wife Linda working along-side him. Some (but not all) of those ventures included auto body repair business, The Pella Dairy (which brought them to Pella in 1983), Collectors Corner/Thomas Kinkade Galleries in Pella and Cedar Rapids, and prior to his retirement in 2016, owner of H&L Handyman, his home repair/remodeling business. He took two years “off” from employment to build the house in Painted Rocks that he and Linda loved and got to enjoy many beautiful sunsets together. They had just recently moved back to Pella in January.

When time permitted, Gary enjoyed hiking, biking around Lake Red Rock, traveling to see son Mitch in Colorado and hitting the national parks. Some of his most recent hiking excursions took him to Angels Landing in Zion National Park and a 16-mile trek in the Grand Tetons. In 2018 Gary and Linda got to take in the sights of Alaska. A couple of years ago he decided to pick up a different paint brush and found enjoyment in the challenge of painting landscapes. He was also an encourager of his wife Linda’s passion for quilting by attending quilt shows and planning a trip to Sisters Oregon when Linda had quilts on display there. One of his biggest highlights of 2019 was an exciting ride aboard a B-17 airplane!

Those left to cherish his memory are his wife Linda, their children: Cindy (Kevin) Van Donselaar of Oskaloosa, Mitch (Robin Swinney) Schminke of Boulder, Colorado, and his grandson Ty Swinney of Boulder, Colorado. Gary is also survived by his sister Loreen (Lud) Svoboda of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, his brother Lawrence (Karen) Schminke of Stratford, Iowa, sisters-in-law: Glennys (Larry) Phelps of Clarksville, Tennessee and Jolyn (Dave) Petermeier of Alhambra, Illinois, and his father-in-law Glenn Krug of Vinton, Iowa, and many nieces and nephews and friends.

Gary was preceded in death by his parents Victor and Hazel Schminke, his step-mother Dorathy Schminke, his mother-in-law Darlene Krug and his brother-in-law Ludwig Svoboda.

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.