Deceased October 20, 2016
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In Memory
Cliff Schmid, a successful banker in the St. Louis area, died Oct. 20 in Naples, Fla. He was 84. Cliff came to Amherst from Webster Groves, Mo., after preparing at John Burroughs High School, a private school in Ladue, Mo. At the College, Cliff was a history major and a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon. He was known to many of us as “Beanie.”
Our classmate Mark Weber recalls that he, Cliff and the late Dick Cutting joined the Navy Reserves during college years and had to attend weekly sessions in Springfield. Mark says he found Cliff “good company.” A memorial note to Cliff’s obituary in the St Louis Post-Dispatch praised his “dry sense of humor.”
After college, Cliff served on active duty as a Navy intelligence officer. The Post-Dispatch obituary said of his business career: “He was a driven businessman, taking the helm of Chippewa Bank in the early ’70s and finally establishing a bank holding company, Financial Bancshares, with his brother Steve in 1980. Together they grew the company to nearly half a billion dollars before selling the firm in 1996.”
The obituary continued: “He loved spending time with his family, boating on Lake Michigan and on the Lake of the Ozarks, collecting wonderful cars, spoiling his children and grandchildren and, of course, he loved his dogs. His laugh, his wit, his kindness and his perspective will be missed by all.”
In recent years, Cliff lived in a condo on Pelican Isle, Naples.
Cliff’s wife, Carol, passed away in 2008. His survivors include two sons, Scott and Colby Schmid; a daughter, Kirsten Wack; and 10 grandchildren.
A funeral was held in the First Congregational Church of Webster Groves.
George Gates ’53