RAY SCHMITT

SCHMITT RAY SCHMITT A retired Library of Congress (LOC), Congressional Research Service (CRS) pension specialist, died in Winchester, V.A., on April 15, 2014 as a result of Marfan syndrome. He was 71. Born in Baldwin, N.Y., on July 5, 1942, Schmitt earned both a degree in business and accounting from Waynesburg University in Pennsylvania and qualification as a certified public accountant in 1964. Schmitt joined CRS in 1971 following a stint at the U.S. Government Accountability Office. A tall, slender man with long, expressive fingers and a love of music, Schmitt excelled as a pension specialist by day and a musician by night. During his 27 years at CRS, he received numerous special-achievement awards for representing "institutional memory of the highest quality and reliability" and "leadership of important group efforts in the field of pension policy," relating particularly to the 1974 landmark pension law, ERISA. He also served on the Wharton School of Business Pension Research Council, where, in 1992, he organized a two-day symposium on "The Future of Pensions in the United States" for Congress, academics and practitioners. Following retirement, he produced a film, "$4 Trillion and Counting," featuring interviews with key players who made ERISA happen. Schmitt was a prolific writer and performer of bluegrass songs and recorded over 15 albums, including "A Forest Is," commissioned by the U.S. Forest Service for its 1976 centennial celebration. His band, Foggy Bottom, which included now-retired LOC employee Karen Belanger, performed for 25 years, appearing in the 1980s on TV's Saturday Magazine and in a half-hour segment of the Nashville Network show "Fire on the Mountain." After his hearing declined in the 1990s, Schmitt switched to filmmaking, producing over 30 documentaries. His films, shown at the LOC, the N.Y. Museum of Modern Art and on public television, and distributed to colleges and public libraries, won numerous awards. In 2004, he was named "Filmmaker of the Year" at the West Virginia Filmmakers' Film Festival. Judy, his wife and co-producer, died in 2007. His documentary "Out of the Blue" explored his subsequent spiritual journey. The work was named "Best Healing Film" at the Akasha Film Festival in 2011. Schmitt is survived by two sons, Raymond Richard of Mathias and Christian Alexander of Harrisonburg, V.A., and a sister, Louise Camp of Nashua, N.H. A memorial service will be held on Saturday June 7, at Eagle's Nest in Mathias, W.V., beginning at 2 p.m.