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A funeral service for James J. (Jim) Schmidt, 78, of Kennard will be Friday, March 17, at 11:30 a.m., at St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Columbus.

Visitation will be Thursday, March 16, from 5 to 7p.m., with a vigil to follow at 7 p.m., at McKown Funeral Home in Columbus.

James Jerome (Jim) Schmidt died Monday, March 13, in Omaha.

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Jim was born on May 27, 1944, in Columbus, to Julius and Vera (Schefcick) Schmidt. On March 1, 1969, he married Darlene Schindler of Ewing. They just celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary. The couple remained in Columbus until 1985, having four children. They relocated to California and returned to Nebraska in 2002 to Kennard.

Jim was a professional truck driver for more than 55 years. He loved driving and seeing the country, where he visited nearly every state in the U.S., including Hawaii. Of course, the warmer states were his favorite and, if you knew Jim, you knew he didn't like to be cold. He had a love for nature and enjoyed gardening, as well as trees.

Over the past 20 years, he had planted more than 100 trees around his acreage, including all his favorite fruit trees. Enjoying the outdoors, he provided the birds with plenty of trees to build nests in, feeding them, and built birdhouses for them as well.

Jim also loved horses and had owned a few of them in his lifetime. When he was young, he worked at the Platte County Ag horse racing park, caring for race horses.

Jim spent his life working and making his family his priority. Jim's biggest love in life was his family and he adored all of his grandkids and great-grandkids; the ornerier the kids were, the better. He had a special bond with each and a nickname for everyone.

Jim battled many health issues throughout his life, but his drive and internal fortitude always proved to win out over the serious illnesses that afflicted him. We sincerely believe it was the love of his family that fueled the fire, for him to overcome those obstacles.

Jim is survived by his wife, Darlene; sons Brady and fiancé (Shannon) Schmidt of Ukiah, California, and Troy (Shelley) Schmidt of Arlington; daughter, Tammy (Jim) Hilzendeger of Kennard; seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren; sister-in-law, Maryanne Schmidt of Columbus; and brother and sister-in-law, Richard (Dick) and Barbara Schmidt of Lakeport, CA.

Jim is preceded in death by his parents, Julius and Vera Schmidt; sister, Jeannie Schmidt; brothers, John and Jerome Schmidt, and baby daughter, Charity Jean Schmidt.