Father Raymond F. Schmidt, a retired priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, was born Sept. 24, 1934, in New York, ordained to the priesthood on May 28, 1960, and died on Tuesday, Sept. 24 — his 90th birthday. 

Father Schmidt grew up in Richmond Hill, Queens, attending Our Lady of Perpetual Help. After ordination, he served the Diocese of Brooklyn as parochial vicar for Sacred Heart of Jesus in Bayside, Queens. He then began a 20-year career in the U.S. Army, serving as lieutenant colonel and chaplain at the U.S. Army bases at West Point, New York, and Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, as well as for the Armed Forces Central Europe (AFCENT) in the Netherlands and Belgium. 

After returning from his Army service, Father Schmidt served as pastor of St. Mary’s in Long Island City. He also served as parochial vicar for the parishes of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Astoria), St. Mark (Sheepshead Bay), St. Benedict Joseph Labre (Richmond Hill), St. Rita (Long Island City) and St. Agnes (Red Hook). 

Upon retirement, he was in residence at the Bishop Mugavero Residence at Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston, New York. Father Schmidt was also a member of the Priests’ Purgatorial Society. 

He was “very generous, down to earth, a priest who loved parish work,” said Father Schmidt’s oldest sister, Sister Patricia Schmidt of the Daughters of Wisdom based in Connecticut. “He especially loved ministering to the families of soldiers stationed at the bases where he served.” 

Sister Patricia added that her brother would say that “helping families helped him to be a better priest.” 

A funeral Mass for Father Schmidt was celebrated by Bishop Robert Brennan at Immaculate Conception Center on Sept. 28. Msgr. Edward Doran served as the homilist. Burial followed at St.