Once a Freeporter, always a Freeporter

He loved Freeport. Although he spent his adult life traveling and living in different parts of the U.S. and raising his family in Charles County, Maryland, he was a Freeporter, who devotedly subscribed to the Freeport Leader for the last 40 years.

Frederick Schmidt, a 1957 Freeport High School alumnus, passed away on Aug. 24 of pancreatic cancer at age 78. He was born in Rockville Centre on Aug. 16, 1939. Schmidt is survived by his daughter Karen; his sons Frederick and Erik; and three grandchildren.

“My dad loved Freeport. He would bring us to Freeport in the summer. We hung out at what is now the Nautical Mile. He use to call it the canal,” Erik said.

Schmidt’s family was immigrants from Germany who moved to Freeport in the 1940s. The Schmidt family owned a German diner and beer hall, Spick and Span off Sunrise Highway, where the Long Island Rail Road stands today.

In 2007, Schmidt actively found and networked with fellow FHS classmates. Eager to reunite with his classmates, he became the chairman of the FHS class of 1957 and helped plan the 50th reunion, which Erik says set record-breaking attendance; one of Schmidt’s proudest achievements

After graduating from Freeport High School, Schmidt pursued his undergraduate and graduate studies in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and served in both the U.S. Army and the Central Intelligence Agency.

A piccolo player, Schmidt became a member of the Freeport High School and Harvard University marching bands. He umpired for the Charles County, Maryland Little League for eight years, was president of the Mt. Carmel Estates homeowners association and was an active member of the MIT Alumni Club of Washington, D.C. and participated in an array of political organizations.

Advancing in his career in chemical engineering, Schmidt held to two U.S. patents, worked as a weapons engineer for the U.S. Navy and eventually left the CIA to work with an Ohio company, Horizon Research, to make technological advances in photography.

Known as the family photographer, Erik says Schmidt always had a camera ready to capture every single moment.

“Everywhere we’d go he was always taking pictures,” Erik said with a laugh. “I would say, ‘Dad got the camera out again.’ It was annoying [then].”

Following her father’s footsteps, Karen attributes her love and knowledge for photography to Schmidt. She says after he died he she realized her dad wasn’t in a lot of the pictures because he was always the one behind the lens.

“My passion grew from his passion. He gave me my first camera, a Polaroid,” Karen said tearfully. “It was a gift [photography] he gave me. I told him in one of our conversations, before he died, that he would live on through my photography because of everything he taught me. It’s how I feel I can continue to honor him.”

An avid surfer, Schmidt traveled the world on “surf safaris,” to catch waves on his handmade Hansen long board, to Malibu, Ca., South Beach, Fla., San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, Bordeaux, France, Carrapateira, Portugal and including Long Island. During the last 17 years, Schmidt spent his days, along with his partner Jerilyn Mullarkey, traveling across the U.S., Europe, China and Central and South America.

When he wasn’t jet setting, he spent his time attending classical music concerts or working in his yard. He was proud of his German ancestry and enjoyed conversing in German with his family in Austria and Germany.

“My dad was really intelligent, had clever wit, intriguing stories, and playful,” Erik said.

A grave side burial service was held at Rockville Centre Cemetery on Sept. 7. The Schmidt family is welcoming condolences, memories and stories at ftritchie@yahoo.com.