- Date Of Birth: June 24, 1939
- Date Of Death: July 4, 2015
- State: Louisiana
Stephen August Schmedtje, Jr. passed away on July 4, 2015, at the age of 76. Steve was born in New Orleans on June 24, 1939. He was the eldest son of the late Stephen August Schmedtje and Catherine Hartwell Schmedtje. He attended Jesuit High School and graduated from St. Stanislaus College in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi in 1957.
Steve received a Bachelor’s degree of Business Administration at Tulane University in 1961. While at Tulane, he served as President of the Kappa Alpha Order. After graduating, he was employed at the accounting firm of Peat Marwick Mitchell for five years. He then joined the American Appraisal Company, an international valuation and consulting firm. He was the district manager of the mid-South area, and later became a vice president and principal of the firm. He was with American Appraisal for over 40 years.
Pop is survived by his loving wife of 30 years, Ruth Van Deman Schmedtje, his six children, Catherine Schmedtje Sullivan (Tommy), Julie Ann Schmedtje Connick (Eddie), Sandra Schmedtje Metcalfe (Jon), Stephen August Schmedtje III (Gretchen), Charlotte Schmedtje Hebert (Marc), and Keith Edward Schmedtje, his former wife, Ann Holmes Hartman, and nine grandchildren, Jack and Peter Sullivan, Caitlin Connick, Max Metcalfe, Elliot and August Schmedtje, and Christopher, Mathilde, and Ellie Hebert. He is also survived by his sister, Sandra Schmedtje Ellender (Stephen Ernest) of Houma, Louisiana, and his brother, John Christopher Schmedtje, of Williamsburg, Virginia.
He spent many of his summers in Pass Christian at his family’s home, Sanchriste, on Henderson Point. He was an avid outdoors man, and spent much of his time hunting and fishing. Boating was his passion, especially when traveling with his friends and family. His most ambitious boating venture was taking the Great Loop around the eastern US to New York Harbor and through Canada to the Great Lakes and back down the Mississippi River.
He was a member of the Southern Yacht Club, the American Great Loop Cruisers Association, the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Royal Marsh Harbor Yacht Club, and a former member of the Pickwick Club and the Bienville Club. He also made an annual retreat to Manresa for over 30 years.
Steve was a lover of people, boats, and travel. Most of all, he loved God, his country, his family and his many friends.
