Donald Melvin Schmidt

Donald Melvin Schmidt, age 79, lifelong Buffalo area farmer, died peacefully from dementia on Friday, October 10, 2025 at The Glenn Memory Care Facility in Buffalo.

Donald was born on April 6, 1946, to Raymond Emil and Emilie (Bayer) Schmidt. He was baptized on May 19, 1946, by Pastor E. Mehlberg at Immanuel Lutheran Church of rural Buffalo, and his godparents were Glenn and Selma Schmidt. He was instructed in the Lutheran Catechism and confirmed in his Christian faith on May 29, 1960, at Immanuel Lutheran Church with Pastor G. Geiger. He attended Schmidt Country School, District 88 through eighth grade, graduating from that one-room school on May 20, 1960, and went on to Buffalo High School, graduating on May 26, 1964.

His commitment to military service was fulfilled in the US Army Reserves from 1965-1975. After basic training in Texas and Kentucky, he served in the Buffalo Armory with the 353 rd Transportation Company and reached the rank of E6, Staff Sergeant.

Donald enjoyed duck, pheasant, and squirrel hunting with his brother and deer hunting with the crew. He belonged to Happy Go Lucky 4-H club and was President of Future Farmers of America. In his teenage and young adult years, he played on a softball team which was sponsored by Sportsmen's Café in Buffalo.

Farming, both dairy and crop, on Green Mountain Farm near Buffalo, was his life's occupation. Donald was the fourth-generation farmer of the land his great-grandfather homesteaded. As a young boy he learned the ethics of hard work when he planted and harvested crops with his grandfather and father. Setting up bundle shocks of grain, driving tractor for the bundle team, and pitching bundles were skills he learned with the threshing crew of Henry, Raymond, Almond, and Glenn Schmidt and August Wagner. As equipment became modernized, Donald enjoyed his tractors and acquired a vast collection, large and small, of red Case IH and McCormick. In addition to the tractors used for farming, he had a collection of small models displayed on the farm porch. His greatest passion was his love of cattle and dairy farming. He continued in the dairy business until his mid 70's. Until shortly before his death, he often asked, "How are the cows doing on the farm?" He learned skills of cutting wood for heat and lumber and helped cut logs at the Schmidt sawmill. The maple trees on his property along County Road 34 have been admired for their beautiful fall colors and for the spring tapping of the trees for syrup.

Donald and Krystyna Jankowski were married November 18, 2006. They later divorced. Together they raised Lucky, a yellow lab, who was Donald's loyal companion and was always at his side. When Lucky died in July, 2023, Donald grieved his best pal's death everyday.

Donald grew up in Schmidt country, as the rural area east of Buffalo has been named. Like his father, he lived on the same farm his entire life and attended Immanuel Lutheran Church, built on land his great grandfather Traugott Schmidt donated. He lived near Schmidt Lake and attended Schmidt School.

Aside from dairy farming, Donald's interest was local government. For 27 years, he served on the Buffalo Township Board and was chairman for 20 years. He exhibited loyalty to grassroots township government. Maintaining good roads and a positive relationship with other township and county officials, ensuring safety for township residents, and keeping a stable financial balance were important issues for him. In addition to the township office, he also served on the Wright County Board of Adjustments for 15 years and the Executive Committee of the Wright County Township Association.

He was on the Board of Directors for the Minnesota Valley Breeder's Association, received an Outstanding Young Farmer Award from the Buffalo Jaycees, and was a Department of Natural Resources Fire Warden for ten years. As a lifelong member of Immanuel Lutheran Church, he served on the church council and cemetery, building, and endowment committees.

In May 2018 Donald had a dissection of his aorta which required a complicated 13-hour cardiovascular surgery. His medical team said it was a miracle of God that he survived. God gave Donald seven additional years of grace on earth and now has taken him to his heavenly home.

Donald is survived by his brother and sister-in-law, Raymond Henry and Cathy Schmidt, sister and brother-in-law Carol and Ken Meyer, nieces Brittany (Grant) McFadden, Angela (Anthony) Pittman, nephew Brady (Carmen) Meyer, great nephews Andrew and Anthony Schmidt and Elliott Pittman, great nieces Amelia Schmidt, Greta and Grace McFadden, Emilie Pittman, and Hazel Meyer.

He was preceded in death by grandparents Henry and Johanna Schmidt, Gottlieb and Frieda Bayer, parents Raymond Emil and Emilie Schmidt, nephew Kevin Schmidt and niece Janelle Schmidt.

Funeral services will be held on Sunday, October 19 at 3 pm at Immanuel Lutheran Church of rural Buffalo with reviewal from 1-3 pm and burial to follow in church cemetery. Pallbearers will be Bruce Schmidt, Jeff Schmidt, Bill Daluge, Terry Weese, Brady Meyer, and Andrew Schmidt.

A special thanks to the staffs of The Glenn Memory Care and St. Croix Hospice for their compassionate and loving care to Donald in the last seven months of his life.