Lance Schmidt

Lance Henry Schmidt II, 48, passed March 1, 2014 after a yearlong battle with cancer. Lance was born October 10, 1965 in Elkhart, IN.; He is survived by parents Erika and Lance H. Schmidt, younger brother Kurt, and wife Anne, formerly Anne Weber of Hurricane and Charleston WV.
Lance graduated from Boon Grove High School located near Valparaiso, and received his bachelor's degree in business marketing from Perdue University North Central located in Westville, Indiana. After college, Lance went to work for Eagle Aircraft in Valparaiso, IN as an Air Taxi Pilot. He later went on to become Eagle Aircrafts chief flight instructor and managed the flight training school. He also at this time flew as a corporate pilot for Signco Transportation of Valparaiso, I.N. In 1989, Lance moved to the Northern Kentucky area where he began his career as a commercial airline pilot with Comair Airlines, a subsidiary of Delta Airlines. Lance also during his tenure at Comair, instructed in the Flight Training department.
He met his wife Anne, also employee with Comair at the time, and the couple married May 22, 2004 in Bellevue KY., at the historic Weller Haus bed and breakfast. The couple remained in the Northern Kentucky area throughout the entirety of their marriage.
In October 2012 after more than 23 years of service with Comair, Lance retired as a captain when Delta made the decision to close the doors to Comair. In 2013, Lance was hired by US Airways, now American Airlines, as a first officer. He was in flight training ground school and was looking forward to flying with his brother, whom he had taught to fly and was also a pilot with US Airways.
Lance is known for his strong character and ethics. He was extremely proud of his German heritage.
He is remembered by his friends, family, and co-workers, as a wonderful person. Noted for his uncanny ability to share his humor, wit and light hearted approach towards any situation.
He had many talents and a lot of close friends. He was extremely hard working with a natural ability to put people at ease. Always gravitating towards teaching others with the knowledge he had. He loved music and was very talented at playing the guitar. He loved the outdoors and enjoyed kayaking and motorcycle riding. He was a gun enthusiast, an interest shared by both his father and brother Kurt. He was a wonderful cook and had seriously considered the culinary arts at one time.
There simply was no better person than Lance. He will always be missed and never forgotten.
A memorial service will be held in Lances honor at 11:00 AM Saturday, March 29, 2014 at Floral Hills Memorial Gardens & Funeral Home
5336 Old Taylor Mill Road
Covington KY 41015
Phone: (859) 356-2151
There will be a family visitation before the service from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM.
The family requests any donations be made to the Melanoma Research Foundation at www.melanoma.org/ or to Suncoast Hospice located in Clearwater FL. at www.thehospice.org