Larry Dean Smidt

Larry Dean Smidt, 86, of Pauline, NE, passed away Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at Stone Hearth Estates in Gothenburg, NE. Visitation will be Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, 4 to 8 p.m. with family present at Merten-Butler Mortuary in Blue Hill, NE. and one hour prior to service at the church. Services will be Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, at 10 a.m. at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Blue Hill with Pastor Leah Krotz officiating. Burial will follow the service at Hanover Cemetery south of Hastings.  Military rites at cemetery by A.L. Shirley Post #176 and the Army National Guard Honor's Team.  The family has designated Hanover Cemetery, Pauline United Methodist Church, Gideons International or St. Jude Children’s Hospital for memorials.  The service will be live-streamed on Merten-Butler Mortuary’s website.  To view the service go to Larry’s obituary and click on the play button towards the bottom of the page.  Condolences may be sent to the family at www.mertenbutlermortuary.com.  Merten-Butler Mortuary, Blue Hill, Nebraska is serving the family.

Larry was born Jan. 18, 1940, on the family farm near Pauline to Theodore (Ted) and Maragret (Walthers) Smidt. In 1958, he graduated from Blue Hill High School. He then enlisted in the United States Army in 1959. As was custom for the local young men, Larry went cruising to see the new nursing students who arrived for a rotation at the psychiatric hospital in Hastings. It was there that he met Patricia Shindler. They corresponded for the next three years while he was stationed in Germany as a military policeman. When he returned from the Army, he and Patricia (Pat) married on Sept. 7, 1962, in Almartha, MO. Their first home was in Lincoln, NE, where Larry worked for the Omaha World Herald while attending business school. In 1965, they moved to Pauline and started their family of three girls: Susan, Carol and Marcia. Larry first worked at Montgomery Ward in Hastings, then for area farmers as well as several seed corn companies. He eventually became the Farm Foreman at the Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, NE. After his position there was dissolved, he worked several sales jobs until he became an exterminator with Williams Exterminating in Hastings. He later started his own business, Larry’s Pest Control. He loved meeting people and getting to know his customers all over central, southern and western Nebraska. He continued working until he was 80 and then sold his business.

When Larry wasn’t at work, he was busy working throughout his hometown of Pauline. He tirelessly helped his neighbors and the community with mowing, scooping snow, cleaning the church and sharing the bounty of his huge garden and fruit orchard with anyone who was in his very large circle of friends and family. He was a member of the Pauline United Methodist Church all of his adult life and was integral in keeping the church clean, warm, cool, staffed and involved in the United Methodist organization. He also served in various offices on the District 8 School Board and the Little Blue Township Board.

The only times Larry wasn’t working was when he was camping with his family or fishing. Up until the time the family drove out of the driveway, any Pauline kid who showed up was quickly offered to come along. He orchestrated a yearly family vacation typically to South Dakota or Wyoming and he stopped for every historical marker along the way.

In the 1990s, Larry and Pat decided to host a foreign exchange student. The first was Steina Thorisdottir from Iceland and the second was Jenni Schumacher from Finland. They, along with their siblings and parents became more family and Larry and Pat traveled to their countries to visit. The Icelanders dubbed him, “The King of Pauline!”

Larry remained in Pauline until health issues brought him to Gothenburg in June of 2025.

Larry was preceded in death by his wife, Pat, of 60 years; his parents; parents-in-law Orbrey and Eska Shindler; two brothers, Paul and Phillip; great granddaughters Caedi and Madeline Prock.

He is survived by daughters: Susan (Kenneth) Landers, Gainesville, MO; Carol (Joe) Keiser, Gothenburg; Marcia (Chad) Pitt, Logan, IA; Grandchildren: Sarah (John) Donley; Rebecca Prock; Ethan (Lynzi) Prock; Emily, Heath & Helene Keiser; Daltyn & Malynn Pitt; Andrew (Nelly) Landers; Alan (Courtney) Landers; great grandchildren: Addi & McCoy Donley; Chloe Watkins; Teanin, Dustie, Saphie & Atreya Prock; Abigail Landers; Exchange students Steina Thorisdottir (Iceland) and Jenni Schumacher (Finland)

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