Janet B. “Boojie” Schmitz

Janet B. Schmitz, 83, passed away quietly in her sleep Saturday afternoon, February 14, 2015, at her home in the Forum at Overland Park.

Janet Elizabeth Baker was born June 30, 1931 in St. Joseph, Missouri, the fourth and youngest child of Herndon Connett Baker and the former Edith Gray Hopkins. The family moved to Kansas City in 1932. There, “Boojie” attended public schools, graduating from Southwest High School in 1948. It was at Southwest that she met the man who would become her husband of over 63 years, Fred W. Schmitz, who survives of the home. She graduated from Monticello College, Alton, Illinois in 1950, and on September 8, 1951 Boojie and Fred were married at Visitation Catholic Church in Kansas City. They resided in Prairie Village, Wichita, and just outside Minneapolis, Minnesota; but wherever they lived she created a loving home for her growing family, making the challenges of wife and mother seem effortless, and even finding time to pursue her interest in antiques – she was one of the founding vendors at the Mission Road Antique Mall in Prairie Village. But above all she imparted a deep and personal sense of family and faith in each of their six children, who also survive: Cindy (Danny Nordin), Overland Park; Mark (Donna), Columbia, MO; Rob (Carol), Prairie Village; Neal (Debbie), Lumberton, TX; Alice (Tom Unger), Troy, IL; and Ted, Philadelphia, PA. Five grandchildren will also miss their “Gran”: Joseph and Emily Schmitz; Kurt, Drew (fiancé Taylor), and Grant Unger.

We’ll remember Mom wherever there’s a good estate sale, or antique deals to be found; whenever there’s laughter over something only the family would understand; or perhaps most of all whenever anyone burns the peas. We’ll be reminded then that she is watching over us, as always.

Services will be Friday morning February 20 at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Prairie Village, where the deceased was first a member in 1953, and where she was active in many ways over the years at the Church and in the School. Visitation will be at 9:30; Mass of Christian Burial to follow at 10:30. St. Ann’s Catholic Church 7231 Mission Rd. Prairie Village, Kansas 66208 There will be a luncheon following the Mass. Assistance by Funeral Advocates, LLC.