MANY BLESSINGS ALONG THE WAY

By Bob Fitch

Contentment doesn’t mean the Schmidt family has lived a life of ease. A lifetime of hard work came with its share of tribulations, but “We’re here today and had many blessings along the way,” said Elmer Schmidt.

Elmer was born in the house on the home place and they own land his father purchased on the day he was born. “I didn’t get past the eighth grade. I was told I’d be a failure.” After eighth grade, he went to work for his father on the farm. Then he was drafted into the army in 1966. “We went through basic and they rushed me over to Vietnam. They were desperate for truck drivers. I was over there for 13 months.”

He returned to Sioux County in October 1967. He and Mary Slothouber were married two months later. They had met and were dating before he left for Vietnam. “I walked to Boyden for one of the celebrations and I saw her on a float. A few weeks later, we saw her cruising in Sheldon. We picked up the girls and the rest is history,” he said. The couple will celebrate 56 years of marriage in December. Elmer joked that their longevity is due in part to him knowing he just needs to always say, “Yes, dear.”

After his army service, he worked for his brothers for a year before the young couple struck out on their own. Not long thereafter, they started a multiplier herd for Ralston Purina, raising gilts and boars for the company’s KleenLeen division. “We were the only one in the company who delivered everything we raised, trying to keep our head above water,” Elmer said.

In 1972, the couple built one of the first confinement buildings in the area. Elmer’s dad still owned the farmland and, while he was in favor of putting up the confinement finishing unit, he didn’t want to be an owner because, “He thought it was totally nuts for him to put up a hog building that cost more than what he paid for the whole farm. Through a lot of talk, we ended up buying a quarter from him. We thought we'd never get that farm paid for in our lifetime,” Elmer said.

The pigs liked the new building. In fact, Elmer said, “People wanted to come and see what the confinement looked like. Disease wasn't as big a deal then, so a lot of people would come