My Mentor...

P

Pat Gregory

Well-known member
This last week has been difficult. Many of us now have a hole in our souls with the loss of Jim Schmiedlin. I know I do. Heck, I was teal hunting Friday and didn't even feel like pulling the trigger.

I can only speak for myself but Jim made a significant impact on my life. What started out to be about duck hunting and decoys became a true friendship.

Jim was a gentleman and a true friend. He always looked you in the eye and spoke the truth. He was caring in his conversation and cared about what you said. He took personal interest in you and the things you did. He wrote amazing letters and took pride in how they were written. He sent thank you's when you thought of him and was respectful of your time.

He was a great and patient teacher. He taught me the details of layout gunning and put up with my lousy shooting. When I peppered his decoys, he gave me grace and told me it was just part of hunting.

It was more than ducks and decoys with Jim. It was a brotherhood I am forever grateful for. Yes, this week we lost a friend, but, for many of us, we lost a brother...

Godspeed Jim Schmiedlin! May the Good Lord rest your weary soul. I thank God he put you in my life and, am better for it.

Farewell my Captain... Pat

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Well written Pat.


I met him a few times, never got to know the man, but felt I did thru people like you and Vic.


His legacy will survive forever thru his decoys and friends and family.


I'm sorry for the loss of your friend.


Jon
 
He was an impact player upon your life, Pat. Your photo documentation and what you wrote about Jim, told me of the love and admiration you had for this man.
Al
 
Good morning, Pat~

Thanks for the fine words and images. I have been following the earlier post and can only envy all those who knew Jim. I know him only from photos of his work I have seen on-line. His truly individual style bespeaks the soul of an artist. It is so nice to hear about the other sides of a fine man.

All the best,

SJS
 
I never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. [font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]Schmiedlin, but it certainly sounds like it was my loss. It sounds like he was a stand up individual. I have seen his name on numerous occasions and surely walked by him on more than one occasion at Westlake or Strongsville without knowing it. For those that did know Jim...Sorry for your loss and the huge void left behind.

Steve
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Pat - Thank you for the photos, they are much appreciated. These recent days for many of us have been very mournful and grief ridden. Our thoughts and prayers focused on Deb and Jim's family.

As much as Jim loved Big Water, Decoys & Waterfowling he also loved Runnin' The Pennsylvania Ridges, for turkey and deer. Seldom did he not kill a Spring gobbler, and a Fall bird. He very much enjoyed the challenge of Fall gobbler hunting. During turkey and deer seasons we would keep in touch, and congratulate each other when good food was put on the table.

His sense of humor and dry wit always made me smile and laugh. A few years ago he scolded me for passing on a gobbler twice, during Spring season cuz it did not have beard... "You knew it was a gobbler you should of shot him". Well Jim it didn't have a beard. "Hell Vince that's only a technicality." Then we both laughed.

As I'm almost always huntin' or fishin' for something. Jim would often call me on my "celery phone" (as much as we both disliked them) and ask how I was doin'? I'd report in, and then he would tell me to get back to what I was doing.

Last Thursday afternoon I was in the woods squirrel huntin' and my celery phone rang. My first thought, it's Jim. No, it was a mutual friend giving me the bad news about Jim. I sat on a log and wept. Not long after a owl hooted several times from up the hill down to me.

It was Jim, the wise old owl telling me he's OK.
 
So sorry for your loss, that would be very hard.

As someone who "got into this" mostly on their own, I can see how strong a bond it would be to learn from someone like that.

Treasure the memories.


Paul
 
Pat,

It is a ripple that turned into a shockwave throughout the decoy carving and hunting community. Another great that passed before I had an opportunity to shake his hand. As Steve already said, It's my loss. I'm sorry for your loss. You pain is palpable. I'm sorry that the start of your season started this way

Talk to you soon.....
 
Guys - Thank you for the kind words. I too hope that I can leave a legacy and impact as many lives as Jim did. Makes me reflect on how I am living my life today and, how I am treating people. Taking a page out of Jim's playbook, are character traits like selflessness and humility. Probably the top contemporary decoy carver ever and, I never heard him brag once or showboat about his decoys. He was a man of character and integrity...

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Wonderful words Pat. I had the chance to chat with Jim at the Ohio shows I attended several years. On one particular occasion, Jim was down by the pool as Hacky and I wandered by. He spied the hat I had on with the UW-F logo, he especially liked the Red the Ringneck logo and spent a bit of time telling me how fond he was of the Ringneck duck. I gave him a hat and I told him all about how cool Ringneck's look with the wine red neck ring on the drakes in late season...he listened intently, but I suspected he already had seen a few mature Ringnecked drakes...then he wanted to hear all about the Black Belly ducks and how he still wanted to take a mature one himself. I told him he was welcome in my blind if I find them and we traded info. About a week later I got a check in the mail from Jim for a sponsor membership to UW-F. He still is our most distant sponsor member. We never did get a chance on the blackbelly hunt with Jim, did we Pat?

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This Bluewinged drake was one in Ky's collection. I think I drooled on it a couple times. Hitch


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Pat,
Your words and photos reflect the tremendous impact and relationship you had with Jim. Man it's hard to lose friends. May our Lord bless Jim's family and all his friends with the peace that only He can give. And may the birds minister to us all this season.
Larry Eckart, Pastor
Island Lutheran Church
Hilton Head, SC
 
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