He was disposed to giving jobs to relatives and others who needed work. In time his agency - at 1400 Central Parkway - employed more than 25 people.

Mr. Schmidt, 89, died Aug. 24 at Deaconess Hospital. The Sayler Park resident had moved to Delhi Township last summer.

Born in Bellevue, he was the oldest of five children. He was required to work during the Great Depression to help support his family. He worked alongside his father as a welder, ran a paper route, delivered meat for a local grocer and rode a bus to Cleves to work as a clerk at the Kroger store.

Still, he managed to graduate from Roger Bacon High School in 1934.

When he became a salesman for Reliable School Supplies at age 20, he realized he had found his calling. After selling for the Washington National Insurance Co., he decided to start his own agency in Ohio.

When he used to travel to Cleves to work he decided he would like to someday live in Sayler Park. So he borrowed $400, moved his family there and opened the Reliable Insurance Agency on Central Parkway.

"In the business community, he is remembered as a man who could get things done," said his daughter, Sue Bitsko of Dayton.

One of his goals was to provide the best education he could for his seven children.

Four of his sons graduated from St. Xavier High School and a fifth from Elder. His two daughters graduated from Oldenburg Academy in Indiana.

When his oldest son applied to Notre Dame University, Mr. Schmidt was heard to say, "If Jerry can get accepted, I'll find a way to pay for it." And he did, his daughter said. He put four more of his children through the University of Dayton.

"I knew whatever the family needs, he'll find a way to get it," said his wife, Elizabeth. "I never worried."

Mr. Schmidt worked at his company until he was in his 70s.

"And he loved every day of it," his daughter said. "Every day when he got up, he was so excited to be going to work to meet people and to have the challenge to do sales and to be successful for his family."

In addition to his wife and daughter, survivors include five sons, Jerry of Troy, Mich., Tom of Westwood, Dan of Charlottesville, Va., Dick of Price Hill and Jim of Delhi Township; another daughter, Mary Kay Villaverde of Orlando, Fla.; 17 grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren.

Services have been held. Interment was at the St. Joseph (new) Cemetery Mausoleum in Price Hill.

Memorials: St. Francis Soup Kitchen, 1615 Vine St., Cincinnati, OH 45202.

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com