03/09/2026
I lost my incredible father Herb Schmidt, February 10. He lived an incredible life and passed away from natural causes peacefully in his home, surrounded by his loving family at age 95. I am eternally grateful for the unconditional love he gave me throughout my entire life. He instilled the love of the ocean with me and my three brothers mat surfing at the San Lorenzo Rivermouth in the late 60s. He also instilled the love of fishing when we would hike in the redwood forest of that same river, fishing for salmon and steelhead when it was a prolific fishing river. To this day fishing and surfing are two of my favorite passions. Being an awesome father and family man was just a small contribution to this world compared to the impacts he achieved through his ministry of 60+ years. His moral compass was always pointed in the right direction towards peace and justice for ALL. His core beliefs were God is love, we are all Gods children and treat one another with respect and empathy. His ministry was mostly that of a campus pastor at UCSC, university of Arizona and Stanford. He worked with a lot of youth and towards the end I heard from so many people he was the most influential mentor/father figure in their lives. His activism on other issues were broad. He was very involved politically in the civil rights and anti-war movement. In the late 60s he was instrumental in closing the local draft board, helping many conscientious objectors avoid going to Vietnam, taking part in many demonstrations, getting arrested and assisting students to get involved in local politics. In 1970 together with his friend Paul Lee he helped form university services agency. (USA) which started the Whole Earth restaurant, campus daycare center, the food and hardware, co-op, the youth hostel, community switchboard, and many other community service nonprofits. USA continues today doing incredible work. He was very instrumental in keeping Wilder Ranch wild and saving lighthouse field from becoming a convention center. We will have a celebration of life April 18, 1 o’clock at Messiah Lutheran Church 801 High St. in Santa Cruz.
