Gilbert Leo Schimmel

Funeral services for Gilbert Leo Schimmel, age 90, a Bessie native and resident, will be at 10:00 A.M., Tuesday, December 19, 2017, at the Peace Lutheran Church in Bessie. Pastor Jerry Lamb will officiate. Burial will be at the Peace Lutheran Cemetery under the direction of the Kiesau-Lee Funeral Home. Gilbert was born November 21, 1927 to Wilhelm and Katherine (Fuchs) Schimmel, in Bessie, Oklahoma. He passed away December 15, 2017, at the Veterans Center in Clinton, Oklahoma. Gilbert was raised in Bessie, where he attended the Bessie school before graduating from Clinton High School in 1945. He was drafted twice, once to the Navy, and again to the Army. After his stint in the military, he moved to Oklahoma City and worked in the restaurant equipment business, designing kitchens. There he met his future wife Vera Horne, and they married on June 7, 1956. They made their home in Oklahoma City until he retired in 1992, then they moved back to Bessie. Gilbert and Vera enjoyed spending winters in the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas. During his years in Oklahoma City, Gilbert was an active member of the St. Paul's Lutheran Church. In Bessie, he was a member of the Peace Lutheran Church. Throughout his long life, Gilbert was the model of a good, kind, and honorable man to all who knew him. He was admired and trusted for his wise counsel and his ability to handle any task or problem with steadfast composure and competence. To his many nieces and nephews and everyone in the younger generations "Uncle Gil" was beloved for his wisdom, his playful wit and humor, his kind understanding (even while keeping them in line), and his apparent ability to make or fix anything. He was an avid golfer and enjoyed woodcarving. Whatever he put his hand to, large or small, whether in the kitchen, the fields, or the workshop, was beautiful and well-crafted. He was preceded in death by both parents, his wife Vera, and his two sisters, Irene Horne, and Leona McSwain. He is survived by one son, Mark Schimmel, and his wife Elizabeth, of Ft. Mill, South Carolina; and four grandchildren, Clarissa Stockwell, and her husband Kord, of Edmond; Matthew Schimmel, of Irving TX; Kevin Schimmel, of Oklahoma City; and Walter Schimmel and his wife Kimberly, of Oklahoma City. Five Great grandchildren; Kayli Schimmel, Mark Schimmel, Ella Stockwell, Templar Stockwell, and Oak Schimmel. The family will receive visitors Monday December 18th at the Kiesau lee Funeral Home in Clinton from noon to 5:00pm. In lieu of flowers, memorials should be made to Peace Lutheran Church, Bessie, Oklahoma.