Schmidt Memorials

SchmidtSeptember 3, 1931 - August 8, 2017GARNER Arlene L. Schmidt, 85, of Garner died Tuesday, August 8, 2017 at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa in Mason City.Funeral services will be held 10:30 A.M., Saturday, August 12th at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Garner. Burial will be in the church cemetery.Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 P.M., Friday at St. Boniface Catholic Church with a rosary at 4:30 P.M., followed by a Scriptural wake service.Memorials may be directed to St. Boniface Catholic Church or Meals on Wheels. Arrangements are with Cataldo Funeral Home in Garner.Arlene Lois Schmidt, the daughter of Henry and Amanda (Helm) Riekena, was born September 3, 1931, at Woden. She grew up in Forest City where she graduated from high school in 1949. Following high school, she worked at Harrison's Department Store in Forest City. On September 5, 1953, she was married to George Schmidt at St. James Catholic Church in Forest City. They lived in El Paso, Texas where George was stationed in the U.S. Air Force. Following his discharge in 1955, they moved back to Iowa and settled on a farm northwest of Garner where they raised their family. Besides helping on the farm, Arlene also volunteered her time in the Garner community at Concord Care Center and delivering Meals on Wheels for thirty-two years. She enjoyed spending time with her family, walleye fishing at Lake Kabetogama, MN, visiting with people, singing in the church choir and going to church.She was a member of St. Boniface Catholic Church where she sang in the choir.Arlene is survived by her husband, George, of Garner; six children, Tom (Pat) Schmidt of Garner, Jeff (Diane) Schmidt of Garner, Russell (Tammy) Schmidt of Garner, Kathy (Ray) Tlach of Britt, Lisa (Clay) Cummings of Tucson, AZ and Sandy (Greg) Rayhons of Garner; fifteen grandchildren; twelve great grandchildren; five siblings, Vivian Pletcher of Britt, Kenny (Cy) Riekena of Sun City, AZ, Lorraine (Shelly) Bohn of Mason City, Janice Marshall of Austin, MN and Marilyn (Tommy) Haley o... (Mason City Globe Gazette)

One of the memorials already has been removed, and another will be removed soon, according to the mayor's office.The removal was announced today in a statement from Madison Mayor Paul Soglin.“The removal of city-owned monuments to Confederate soldiers in Forest Hill Cemetery has minimal or no disruption to the cemetery itself,” the statement read.Soglin called the Civil War an act of insurrection and treason and a defense of the deplorable practice of slavery."We should remember the Civil War and how it started and why it was fought, but there can be no justification in honoring that insurrection,"  Soglin said in a phone interview with 27 News from New Mexico.The removed memorial included language about "...The valiant Confederate soldiers"  and referred to "...resting places for these unsung heroes."The remaining memorial includes the inscription, "Erected in loving memory by United Daughters of the Confederacy to Mrs. Alice Whiting Waterman and her boys."  Historians say Waterman maintained the cemetery section for the more than one hundred confederate dead, who had been prisoners at Camp Randall in connection with the war, and died in Madison.Former city council president Chris Schmidt says he agrees with Soglin's action on the removal of the glorifying monument, but reserves his opinion on the larger, remaining one.  "I have mixed feelings about that,"  Schmidt says.  "This one is a list of the names...it just feels like a fairly traditional cemetery monument, and gives some context to the site." Schmidt, and city councilpersons Shiva Bidar-Sielaff and Marsha Rummel were instrumental in the removal of a flag pole at the site in 2015, that ended the years-long practice of flying the Confederate flag on certain days at the cemetery section.Soglin says the second monument will be removed after heavy equipment is secured for the job.Forest Hill Cemetery is located across from Glenway Golf Course along Speedway Road on Madison's near west side.More from the statement:"The monuments in question were ... (WKOW)