Obituary of CLIFFORD FREDERICK SCHMIDT

CLIFFORD FREDERICK SCHMIDT (CF) December 11, 1942-December 18, 2015 With great sadness we announce the passing of our beloved husband, brother, brother- in-law and uncle, Cliff Schmidt at the Health Sciences Centre on Friday, December 18, 2015 of Leukemia due to Myelodysplastic Syndrome. Cliff was predeceased by his parents Fred and Lucy Schmidt and in-laws Rudy and Joyce Baldoke. Left to cherish his memory is his wife Audrey, sister Gail Krahn (Jake); brother Rick Schmidt (Glenda) of Calgary: sister-in -law June Baldoke and brother-in-law David Baldoke (Donna). Cliff was uncle to Shelley Marion (Gerry); Jim Krahn (Sandy and Justin) of Calgary; Jeff Schmidt (Melissa and Sophie) of San Francisco; Mark Schmidt (son Jake) of Calgary and Chris and Lindsay Baldoke. Also, Cliff leaves behind many wonderful friends, especially in the curling community. Cliff was born in Winnipeg and grew up in the East and North Kildonan areas. Cliff graduated from Miles Macdonell Collegiate and later earned his Chartered Accountancy Designation. Cliff began working at Investors Group Trust Co. in 1966 and after 30 years ended his working career as the Senior Vice- President of Administration at the Investors Group. Cliff participated and was interested in a wide variety of sports including fishing, golf, slow-pitch baseball with the Flashback Stealers, thoroughbred horse racing but curling was his primary focus. Cliff’s curling career began in the 1960's with the Rossmere Juniors and concluded with him being a member of the Valour Road Curling Club for almost 50 years. Cliff had won numerous club championships at the Valour and had participated in three Provincial Championships. But, it was as a builder in which Cliff excelled. He was the only two- time President of Valour Road (1975 -1977). He later moved on to become a Council member of the Manitoba Curling Association (Curl Manitoba) and became President of the M.C.A. in 1991-1992. Some of Cliff s highlights while serving on Council were as Chairman of the Provincial Juniors in 1986 and attending the Canadian Juniors with the Hugh McFayden team. In 1988, Cliff was the Chair of the 100th M.C.A. Bonspiel (1280 teams). Cliff was Comptroller of the 1991 Safeway World Curling Championships while also serving as First Vice-President of the M.C.A. Cliff believed his builder abilities were best used to serve the curling community in Manitoba. He was the Chairman of the 1998 Labatt Brier; Vice- President of Finance for the 2003 Ford World Curling Championships and was the Honorary Chairman of the 2008 Tim Horton's Brier. Cliff was the recipient of many awards such as Honorary Life Member of the M.C.A.; Honorary Life Member of the Valour Road Curling Club; Member of the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame (2002) and the 2002 recipient of the Ray Kingsmith Award. Despite his health issues, Cliff was currently participating on the Steering Committee for the Manitoba's Credit Union Masters to be held at the Thistle Curling Club March 2016. Cliff and Audrey were able to attend 19 World Curling events in Canada, the United States and Europe and had many friends from around the world with the Pondhoppers Club. They had attended many Briers and Canadian Mixed Championships. Audrey would like to extend a sincere thank-you to CancerCare Manitoba, especially Dr. R. Kumar and nurse Rose Flatt; Dr. Seemus and all the staff of GA 4 of the Health Sciences Centre and the Palliative Care Team for their support. As per Cliff’s wishes, cremation has taken place and there will be no formal service. A family interment will take place in the Spring. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation, 675 McDermot Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3E 0V9; The Winnipeg Foundation Curling For Life Endowment Fund, 1350-One Lombard Place, Winnipeg, MB R3B 0X3 or the ALS Society of Manitoba, 2A-1717 Dublin Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H2.