(49/229) 1943-00-00-b.jpg

Alfred Schmidt family circa 1943, when oldest son Ruben was called into military service in World War II. Left-to-right are Irmgard (née Ruhbusch), Claude, Alfred, and Ruben.

48: Claude Schmidt took off his sophomore year of college in 1943 to return home to work the farm for his father Alfred, who had nearly died from a burst appendix the year before and was unable to handle all the farm chores. Working the family farm also gave Claude a deferment from the draft which followed the Pearl Harbor attack and the US's entry into World War II, which being a pre-med college student probably would not have.
47: Claude Schmidt's high-school graduation photo, 1941. He was 16 years old.
46: When Claude Schmidt was 14 years old, his dear pet cat Caesar gto run over in the road by their house. He asked his mother to take this picture of him with the cat.
45: Ruben F. Schmidt's high-school graduation photo, 1937. He was 16 years old.
44: Memorial Day 1936. Brother Ruben (center) and Claude (right) Schmidt pose in front of Spirea bush under elm tree on the family farm. The "chicken" barn is visible on the right.
43: Alfred Schmidt and sons Ruben and Claude, circa 1936, pose on the driveway of the family farm.
42: Claude Schmidt's 8th-grade class at the Hohn one-room country schoo, 1936. Left-to-right are Claude, Phyllis Peter, Bennie Schwartz, and Lorene Otto.
41: June, 1936: Fred W. Schmidt, son Alfred, unknown (possibly William's daughter), Fred's brother William, Alfred's sons Ruben and Claude. At the back portch of the farmhouse built by Fred W. and owned by Alfred at the time the photo was taken.
40: Road in front of the Schmidt farm after a big snow storm about 1932. The Herman H. Schmidt farmstead (later Vernon Schmidt's) is in the background. AlfredSchmidt is in front of his Model T Ford with son Claude and dog Glückie.
39: Anna Fredericka & Fred W. Schmidt, circa 1930s.