Alice Schmierer

Alice Schmierer – One day at a time sweet Jesus, was a favorite line from one of the many tunes Alice Schmierer loved to sing. Her last day with us here was January 15th, 2021. She passed away peacefully to join her Lord in heaven and to hold hands once again with her husband Alvin Schmierer.

Alice was born in a 3 room house just a few miles up a gravel road from Odessa, WA. The town she would call her home for all of her 96 years. She was raised on the family homestead farm with her mom Lena Stroh, dad Conrad Stroh, sisters Martha and Edna, and her brother Lawrence. That was until she turned 18 years old and met a young man at the Odessa roller skating rink. Alice said all she remembers about first seeing Al was a big pair of bushy eyebrows walking her way. Well, something must have clicked because on July 5th, 1942 they were married. And they would remain so for the next 59 years until Al passed away in 2002.

Alice started her life with her new hubby by moving into a home built by Alvin’s grandparents on his family homestead. During her life she became accustomed to the long, hard days that come along with working a family farm. Even during the most hectic days she kept things running smoothly. She drove truck, rode the tractor, delivered meals to the field to feed the harvest crews which always included her famous chocolate chip cookies or lemon meringue pies and did countless other jobs that never seemed to end. But even among all the hard work that needed to be done Alice found time to raise 3 children—Michal (Mickie), Robert (Bob), and Gary. Alice was the room mother for every class, designed floats for the Odessa town parade, cheered them at sports events, took trips to the lake to pull all the town kids on the water skis, wrote their college papers and many other activities that gave Mickie, Bob and Gary cherished memories they will have for the rest of their lives.

Alice’s life wasn’t all about working hard and being a mom, she loved to have fun too. She could get dirty with her grandkids driving Tonka trucks in the dirt and making mud pies to dry on the cellar hill door. Alice also loved to travel. In their RV, with homemade goodies packed into every nook and cranny, Alice and Alvin traveled to every state in the US. They would take trips to Alaska, Hawaii and Europe. Another favorite pastime was to rent cabins at the lake to spend time relaxing and fishing.

Alice took time to do her own things too. She was an active participant in many groups like the Odessa Rodeo Club, Fronen Steppdecker (The Quilters Club), and The Palettes Club. She was also a lifelong member of Christ Lutheran Church. Serving several times as the Ladies Club President. She hosted and led Bethel studies for most of her life. One of the featured events every Christmas at the church was Alice reciting, from memory, the Christmas story. Alice was generous with her time and everything she had. She would share her kind and giving heart with her family and anyone else that would ask.

Another of Alice’s favorite songs was, You Are My Sunshine. Alvin would sing this to her to make her happy, usually right after he said or did something that annoyed her. Alice will always be our sunshine—a light in our hearts when skies are gray.

Alice is survived by her children Mickie Fichtner, Bob (Donna) Schmierer and Gary (Terri) Schmierer. Grandchildren Bret Fichtner, Tara (Craig) Lavinder, Tiffany Kurkowski, Justin (Jill) Schmierer, Deric (Marra) Schmierer, Karma (Mike) Henry, Sundi (Tom) Camp. Great grandchildren Kade and Ilayna Lavinder, Darby and Heidi Kurkowski, Sydney and Austin Schmierer, Alexis, Aiden and Izaak Schmierer, Carson and Luke Henry, Kayla and Emmit Camp. Sister Martha Hart. Numerous nieces and nephews and her many friends she made throughout her life. A family funeral service will be held on Friday January 22, 2021 at 1:00 PM at the Christ Lutheran Church with interment at the Odessa Cemetery. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at http://www.strate-funeral.com for the Schmierer family. Memorials may be made to the Christ Lutheran Church, Odessa, WA. STRATE FUNERAL HOME, Davenport, WA is caring for the family.