George Wilhelm Schmidt, age 86, of Wells, died Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2004, at Good Samaritan Center in rural Albert Lea.

Memorial services will be 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 24,

at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Wells. The Rev. Meg Sander will officiate. Visitation will be held one hour prior to services on Friday at the church. Interment will be at Rosehill Cemetery in Wells. Bruss-Heitner Funeral Home, Wells,

is in charge of arrangements.

George Schmidt was born on July 3, 1918, in Albert Lea, the son of Fredrick and Maria Anna (Stern) Schmidt.

He married Alice Anna Brandenburg on Nov. 24, 1940, at Concordia Lutheran Church, Pickerel Lake. They farmed in the Alden and Wells areas.

George is a past member of Grace Lutheran Church in Alden and was a member of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Wells.

He is survived

by his daughters: Gloria and her husband Jerry Zeller of Edisto Beach, S.C.,

Nancy and her husband Gary G. Watts of North Mankato; grandchildren: Todd Zeller of Chicago, Ill., Sara Zeller and her husband Jim Bolin of South Riding, Va., Nanette and her husband Rocky Trail of Albert Lea, Roger Watts of Fort Bragg, N.C., Mitchell Watts of North Mankato, and Michelle and her husband Robb Ball of Minnetrista, Minn.; great-grandchildren: Dustin, Ashley and Brayden Trail and Samantha Ball; two sisters: Hulda Olson and Evelyn Perkins of Albert Lea; brother-in-law and sisters-in-law: Vincent and Edna Hunnicutt of Freeborn, Dorothy Hunnicutt of Albert Lea, and Esther Weiser of Zimmerman, Minn.; and

many nieces and nephews and cousins

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Alice, in 1997; his daughter, Mary Jane Olson, in 1985; and his son, Donald George Schmidt, in 2003.

The family requests that no flowers be sent.

If desired, donations may be sent to the American Heart Association or the American Cancer Association.