Ben Schmitt Obituary – He oversaw a paradigm shift at the college while serving as dean. He directed the planning and building of the Bell Engineering Center, tripled the amount of money allocated to research, and oversaw the conversion of an abandoned factory into the well-known Engineering Research Center. He was a longtime member of many civic organizations. During his research into bio-medical engineering, he studied at our local hospitals and Neil identified a need for better local ambulance capabilities.
To help address this need, he helped develop our current ambulance 911 and EMS response systems and even received EMT certification and served as a paramedic in the fledgling CEMS. While successful in his career, his greatest passion was to serve his Lord and live out his faith. He served as a senior leader at UBC and Fellowship Bible Church for over a combined 50 years. Neil especially enjoyed mentoring young men and married couples, as well as participating in many mission trips. Neil and his wife, Carolyn, were avid travelers and they visited dozens of locations on 6 different continents.
Neil and Carolyn’s favorite place was Hawaii, where they often took their family for special times in the South Pacific. Neil was proceeded in death by his parents Harold and Henrietta Schmitt, his stepmother Nora Schmitt and his brother Dean Schmitt. He is survived by his wife of sixty years Carolyn Schmitt, his daughter Caryn Finney and her husband Steve; their family, Trevor, Spencer, Caleb and his fiancé Julia Rogers; his son Robert Schmitt and his wife Trisha; their family, Jackson, Neil, Sydney and Samantha.
