William Blake "Bill" Schmidt

ELIZAETHTOWN SCHMIDT, WILLIAM BLAKE "BILL," 79, of Sarasota FL and Elizabethtown, died Wednesday, April 4, 2007 at his residence in Sarasota. He was a native of Hardin County and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was a First lieutenant in the United States Air Force, serving as Strategic Air Command Pilot during the Korean War. He was the owner of Coca Cola Bottling Company in Elizabethtown, was president of Kentucky Coca-Cola Bottlers Association, president of KY Soft Drink Bottlers Association and was elected member of the Board of Directors of the Coca-Cola Bottlers Association for 30-plus years. He was a member of Elizabethtown Industrial Foundation, Elizabethtown Noon Rotary Club, where he was a Paul Harris Fellow, and was past president of Elizabethtown Hardin County Chamber of Commerce. He was a member and chairman of the Elizabethtown Airport Board, was a chairman of the Coca-Cola Art Show for 15 years and was a member of Fort Knox Boosters Club. After working for several years, he was able to see the Schmidt Museum of Coca-Cola Memorabilia open last year. He was preceded in death by his parents, Luke B. and Irene Blake Schmidt. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Janet Saunders Schmidt, two sons, Larry W. and Vicki Schmidt, of Elizabethtown, and Luke B. and Sharon Schmidt, of Prospect, KY; his sister-in-law, Peggy Hall, of Sarasota; and five grandchildren, Blake, Craig and Graham Schmidt, of Elizabethtown, and Margaret and Luke Schmidt Jr. of Prospect. Services will be private. Visitation is 5-8 p.m. Saturday at Brown Funeral Home. The family requests expressions of sympathy be made to Hospice & Palliative Care or a charity of their choice.