Mary Elizabeth Park Schmidt, 81, passed away peacefully at her Smyrna, Tenn., home July 24, 2025, with the love of her life by her side.

Mary's friends and family remember her as lighthearted, spunky, and tireless — a woman who brought fun and energy to a gathering. She enjoyed cooking, dancing, sewing, and making a big deal out of family birthdays.

She was born and raised in the Canal Zone, the U.S.-controlled community around the Panama Canal. "Paradise" is what she called this lush landscape where she lived with her mother Marie, step-father Bill, and four younger siblings. It inspired her lifelong love for color, tropical plants and Latin music.

When she was 16, her family relocated to St. Petersburg, Fla. At Dixie Hollins High School she met Tom Schmidt, and less than a year after graduation — during which she worked as a telephone operator for General Telephone — Tom took leave from the U.S. Coast Guard so they could marry. Mary's independent and adventurous spirit made her a good match as a military wife. As they moved to Alabama, New York, and several Florida towns, she supported her husband, raised their two daughters and took every opportunity to explore her surroundings.

Once both daughters were school-age, she worked as an instructional aide in elementary and middle schools, where she treated her students with compassion and respect as she recognized their struggles both at school and at home. While living in Jupiter, Fla., she worked for Lincoln Life Insurance Co., Marquette Medical Systems and General Electric.

Mary had a creative streak and was a lifelong seamstress, making outfits for herself as well as her girls and their dolls. After moving to Tennessee, she took up quilting. She sewed happy quilts with bold colors, flowers, and whimsical animals, and gave many to family and charities. She also made Quilts of Valor for family members who served in the military and for veterans' homes.

With traveling as a hobby, she and Tom enjoyed exploring the United States by car, riding excursion trains, and cruising to tropical destinations or to Alaska.

She showered her four grandsons with love and silly jokes and maintained bonds with her siblings. Mary taught her daughters to be independent and to follow their individual paths, and she always knew when they needed support. Her most trying time was caring for her younger daughter during a cancer battle.

Mary is survived by her devoted husband of 61 years, Tom Schmidt; eldest daughter Debbie Bennick; grandsons Cameron Carver, Brice Bennick, Colin Carver, and Joel Bennick; sister Jeri Brawn and her husband Brian; brothers Allen Park and his wife Peg, Louis Park, and and Michael Park and his wife Donna; in-laws Claire Griswold, Pam Bleakney, Nan Malloy and her husband Rich, Kathy Hall and her husband Delbert, and Steve Schmidt and his wife Karen; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her youngest daughter, Lori Carver, and her parents.

If so moved to make a donation in her honor, the family suggests ALS.org.

Visitation with the family will be Saturday, August 30, 2025 from 9:00am until 11:00am at Woodfin Chapel, Smyrna. A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, August 30, 2025 at 11:00am at Woodfin Chapel, Smyrna.