Lillian Schmidt

Lillian Schmidt, 92, Mandan, passed away on June 13, 2026.

Mass of Christian burial will be held on Thursday, June 18, 2026, at 10:30am at Christ the King Catholic Church, Mandan, ND with Fr. Fred Harvey presiding.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday, June 17, 2026 from 5pm -7pm at Weigel Funeral Home, with rosary and parish vigil held at 7pm.

Lillian R. Schmidt was born on February 12, 1934 to Raphel and Elizabeth (Stein) Hatzenbuehler. Lillian was educated in a country school about one mile from the family farm, completing through 8th grade.

Lillian met the love of her life, Simon Schmidt, at a dance at the Casaloma in New Salem, ND. After a 2-year courtship, Lillian and Simon were united in marriage on October 29th, 1951 at St. Vincent de Paul in Crown Butte, ND. After they were married, Lillian and Simon settled in to farm life.

Lillian was a natural homemaker. She helped nurture and lovingly care for their 5 children. Lillian could be found either mending and sewing or in the kitchen. People knew you could never leave Lillian’s house hungry. Anytime anyone would come over, she would make sure she would cook for them. Her family will always remember her famous German potato salad and turkey and rice dressing.

After living on the farm for 52 years, Lillian and Simon built their dream home in Mandan. One of Lillian’s special projects when she moved to town was compiling hand-written cookbooks that were given to her children and grandchildren. She passed down many of her favorite family recipes in her own handwriting. The only caveat to the cookbook was to know what mom used to measure her ingredients, her measurements were a little different since she did not have any of the “fancy” cooking tools.

Though Lillian liked to say that she never got to go anywhere, her and Simon, when they would have some downtime on the farm, would love to travel together, especially when a casino was involved. Their favorite places to visit were Reno, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City (and all of the casinos along the way). Lillian loved to find the next casino and a slot machine. Some of Lillian’s highlights were ziplining over Fremont Street in Las Vegas at the age of 82 and doing the limbo at a family wedding in Puerto Rico. Lillian actually became quite the world traveler. Her big trips included Rome, Florence, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and Canada. Around the US, she was able to visit Arizona, Florida, California, New York and Niagara Falls, New Mexico, Texas, Hawaii and Alaska.

Lillian and Simon were always ready to celebrate their love for one another. They had celebrations for their 25th, 40th, and 50th wedding anniversaries. Each event was full of family, food, and plenty of dancing. After their 50th wedding anniversary, a family member told them that it was “one heck of a party.” Lillian always loved to be surrounded by family. She was always there to support them and love them in all that they did. One of Lillian’s favorite events to attend was a trip to Texas to watch her grandson play hockey. She really wasn’t a fan of sports, but fell in love with her grandson’s hockey team!

Left with fond memories are daughter, Carol (Steve) Horner, Mandan; sons, Calvin (Jackie) and Myron (Carrie), both of Mandan, and Simon Jr. (Michelle), of Bismarck; grandchildren, Miranda, Medora (Rob) Nagle, Levi (Shari), Chance (Kayla), Stone and Sawyer Schmidt and Katarina (Andrew) Johnson; great grandchildren, Harlee Leier; Madison, Rhyleigh, and Shotae Raygo; Phoenix Schuck, Krew and Knox Nagle; Mason and Chase Schmidt; Averi and Ruby Schmidt; and Ailo and Ove Johnson; great-great grandchildren Brekken and Brynlee Casson; Nova and Summer Leier; Emery and Elliot Lucier; Karter Raygo; Rhyette Raygo; Jax Raygo; siblings Jack (Helen) Hatzenbuehler, Jim (Lucille) Hatzenbuehler, Lorraine Gerhardt, and Florentine Hatzenbuehler.

Lillian was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Simon in 2010, son, Wesley Schmidt in 2012, siblings John, Ralph, Cecilia, Isabelle and 2 infant siblings; sister-in-law, Ida; brothers-in-law, Stanley Gerhardt, Floyd Mosbrucker, and Frank Schmidt

The family would like to thank Lisa from Elevate Nursing; Lasting Love Home Health Care, and Sanford Hospice for all the care they gave to Lillian during her last few months.