SCHMIDT, Anabel Lee

Midland Reporter-Telegram (Midland TX) Friday, September 4, 2015 Anabel Lee Schmidt, 102, was born April 12, 1913 in Louisville, Kentucky, to Anna Catherine and Reverend Edward Silvers Laux, a Baptist minister. She passed away on August 28, 2015. The family, including her brothers John Laux and "Pete" (Dr. Edward Eugene) Laux, lived in several pastorates in Minnesota and the northwest, eventually moving to Torrington, Wyoming where Anabel graduated from high school. She attended Northwestern Bible School, graduating cum laude in 1936, and gave the Senior Class Farewell Address. During her marriage to Revered Richard Mohler, her only child, Dolores Jean, was born. Anabel and her daughter moved to McGregor, and then to Waco in 1944, where she worked as a stenographer at the Waco VA hospital. She met and married Wallis K. Schmidt in 1953 and moved with him to San Antonio where they both worked at Brooke Army Medical Center. After Wally's retirement from government service, they lived in Phoenix and Wickenburg, Arizona where she, again, worked for the government and aided Reverend Schmidt in his Baptist mission ministry at Congress, Arizona. They moved to Midland in 1974 to be near her daughter and son-in-law Dolores and Al Walvoord. Anabel was a superb seamstress, making all of her and her daughter's clothing for many years. In Midland, she made "mother of the bride" dresses for several missionaries in addition to making wedding dresses for family members and clothing for several grandchildren. She taught the Bible to children and adults her entire life, helping her husband "Wally" with the Partner's Class at Midland's First Baptist Church for many years. She loved missions and was a Women's Missionary Union (WMU) leader for several years. She wrote letters to shut-in friends every week and kept up an active correspondence with missionaries across the world on a weekly basis. "Prayer Warrior" was a title given to her over and over again by those who knew her and appreciated her powerful and loving prayer ministry. She loved memorizing scripture and gave public readings and devotionals, even into her nineties. She had an enduring love for the elderly and shut-ins visiting them for many years until she could no longer physically attend to them. She was a kind, loving, and sacrificial mother, having raised her daughter alone until her marriage to W.K. Schmidt in 1953. She is survived by her daughter, Dolores Jean Walvoord and son-in-law, retired Judge Al Walvoord; grandson David Laux Walvoord and his son, Adam Scott Walvoord; granddaughter Leanna Bond and her husband Dr. Kirk Bond and their daughters, Annalise Cortlyn Bond and Sarah Kate Bond. She is also survived by Dorothy "Dot" Laux, her deceased brother, "Pete's" widow. She was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers, John Madison Laux and wife, Dorothea, and Dr. Edward Eugene Laux; her husband Reverend W. K. "Wally" Schmidt; and her granddaughter-in-law, Stacey Dawn Hill Walvoord. The family wishes to thank all of the caregivers at Manor Park. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, September 5, 2015, at 2:00pm in the Fist Baptist Church Chapel with David Johnson officiating. Interment will be at Resthaven Memorial Park, In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Mission Committee at First Baptist Church, 2104 W. Louisiana, Midland, Texas 79701 or to the charity of one's choice. Ellis Funeral Home Midland Texas