Notizen:

Gestorben:
Peter Gustav Schmidt passed away on February 4, 2016, surrounded by loving family. He was 94.

"It's the Water." In 1894, Leopold Schmidt brought his son, Peter G. Schmidt, Sr., to Tumwater to help him build the Olympia Brewery. Peter, Jr. was born to Peter and Clara Schmidt in 1921 in the historic Schmidt House. He was the youngest of five children.

But the water meant other things to Peter. A passionate sailor, he built his first sailboat at the age of 12, and his love of sailing continued all his life. He was a charter member of the Corinthian Yacht Club and an active member of the Seattle Yacht Club. Peter and his crew won countless races aboard his PC and CAL-40, Olympian, and twice sailed the Los Angeles to Hawaii TransPac Race.

While an engineering student at the University of Washington, Peter met Elva Mary Ingalls at an Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity dance and they were together ever after. World War II interrupted Peter's studies while he served as a junior officer in the Navy aboard the U.S.S. Trinity in the South Pacific. When the War was over, Peter returned to finish his degree at the University of Washington. He married Elva Mary and they were off to the University of Michigan and Peter's Masters Degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.

In 1953, Peter opened the MARCO Shipyard on Seattle's ship canal. It was there that Mario Puretic introduced his invention, the "Power Block," to MARCO and Peter Schmidt. Together, Mario, Peter and MARCO revolutionized the world fishing industry with the Puretic Power Block. In fact, the FAO of the United Nations states, "No single invention has contributed more to the success of purse seine net hauling than (the) extensive line of Power Blocks."

Then came an invitation from the country of Chile and the formation of MARCO Chilena. And for the next five years the Schmidt family found itself living in Santiago, Iquique and Via del Mar while Peter helped commercialize Chile's fishing industry, opened a shipyard, operated a fishing fleet and fish processing plants in Iquique, and marketed marine equipment throughout South America. It was back to Seattle just in time for the Alaska King Crab boom of the 1970s. Peter and his staff of talented and skilled naval architects designed, and the MARCO shipyard constructed, many Alaska limit seiners, including the Hansen family's F/V Northwestern. In the late 1970s, MARCO purchased the Campbell Shipyard in San Diego, which had been in operation constructing tuna seiners for nearly 100 years. That tradition continued for several more years while the Company built 250 ft. tuna purse seiners that navigated throughout the high seas.

Even in his last year, Peter was able to pursue his lifetime pleasures of sailing in his J-100 Olympian III, spending time with friends talking about fishing boats and machinery, traveling to Chile, telling stories and having Sunday brunches at the Varsity Inn.

After nearly 70 years together, Peter was preceded in death by his beloved Elva Mary. They are survived by four of their five children, Mimi (and Ken) Fielding, Jill (and Michael) Crowson, Janet (and Jim) Mano and Hans (and Neysmi) Schmidt, thirteen grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. They were preceded in death by their beautiful boy, Peter Leopold.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to The Olympia Tumwater Foundation's Archive Project.

Peter lived life to the fullest and leaves a lasting legacy.

Published in The Seattle Times on Feb. 14, 2016

Peter heiratete Elva Mary INGALLS am 3 Dez 1945 in Seattle, King, Washington, USA. Elva wurde geboren am 14 Jun 1924 in Seattle, King, Washington, USA; gestorben am 7 Jan 2015 in Seattle, King, Washington, USA; wurde beigesetzt in Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park, Seattle, King, Washington, USA. [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]

Janet heiratete Lebend [Familienblatt] [Familientafel]