Judith Mae (Kochenower) Schmidt was born July 29, 1944, in Newton to Harold and Nina Kochenower. She was the thrid of five children. She died on July 22, 2017, after a series of illnesses at Via Christi/ St. Francis Hospital.

She attended Lincoln Grade School and graduated from Newton High School in 1962. As a young girl she worked for Moore's lGA. She enjoyed going to the drive-in and dragging Main Street while only using $1 worth of gas. She also loved to fish as long as someone baited her hook.

On Sept. 19, 1964, she married Ronnie Schmidt of Lehigh. They were married at the First Methodist Church in Newton, which resulted in 53 years of marriage. After their marriage they resided in Denver for one year. They moved back to Kansas after Ronnie's service was complete. In 1966, they bought their first farm. Ronnie remembers Judy crying all the way home from the bank, worried they would never pay off their debt. During this time they were blessed with two children and enjoyed many years of farm life together. Kimberly was born May 19, 1967, and Craig was born on Sept. 10, 1969.

During their years of farm life, Judy would help drive the tractor during harvest. After a long day on the farm, she still found the energy to cook a three-course supper. She could never bear to leave anyone hungry. Many of her grandchildren's favorite memories include everyone gathered around the kitchen table. If only the kitchen table could talk.

After the children were school age, she started working at Bethesda Home in Goessel as a cook. She worked her way up to Food Service Supervisor after taking a correspondence course from The University of Florida. She worked for Bethesda for almost 20 years. Later, she worked at Dale's Supermarket in Hillsboro for 10 years. She loved being around people.

Judy enjoyed going to her children's basketball games, where Kim and Craig always said they could hear mom cheering from the stands. She kept very busy with her grandchildren's sporting events and school activities. She tried not to miss many activities except for in her later years when she became ill, making it difficult to attend. Her grandchildren meant the world to her!

Judy is survived by her husband, Ronnie of the home; daughter: Kim and Jerry Lewis and their children, Tyler and Sara Schmidt and Trey Schmidt; son: Craig and Jody Schmidt and their children, Jayce, Jerah, Javin and Jayley Schmidt; sister, Joyce Campbell of Pedro, Ohio; and brother, Danny and Vicki Kochenower of Newton. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews.

She is preceded in death by her parents; sister, Sheila Ratzlaff; and brother, Harold Kochenower Jr.