Thelma Lorraine (Ficker) Schmidhauser

01/14/1926 – 06/24/2023

Long-time Carpinteria resident Thelma Lorraine (Ficker) Schmidhauser passed away peacefully in her sleep on June 24, 2023, at age 97 in Santa Barbara, California.  

She was born on Jan. 14, 1926, in St. Cloud, Minnesota, to Lawrence and Alma Ficker. She grew up in Minnesota, living through hard times during the Great Depression. She graduated from Cathedral High School in 1943. She lost her mother when she was a teenager. She helped with the war effort, as a Rosie the Riveter in an aircraft factory.

She earned a B.S. in biology from St. Cloud State Teachers College in 1949. She was accepted to the Botany Ph.D. Program at Blandy Farms, a research institute which is part of the University of Virginia. During graduate school, she met John Schmidhauser, who was also attending the University of Virginia. They married on June 9, 1952, in Charlottesville, Virginia, and started a family. She earned a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Virginia in 1954.

Their early years of marriage were spent in Iowa City, Iowa, before they moved to California in 1973. She raised a family of seven children. She was an elementary school librarian. In the early 1980s, they moved to Carpinteria. During her time in Carpinteria, Thelma served as a substitute teacher. She did volunteer work for the Canalino Elementary School library, the Carpinteria Library and the HELP of Carpinteria office. She was an avid gardener, played piano, sang in choirs, wrote poetry and short stories and participated in book and poetry clubs. 

She is survived by her seven children, Steven (Tieyan Han), Paul (Cindy Hughes), Thomas, John (Marilyn Schneider), Martha, Sara and Susan and by her grandchildren.  She was preceded in death by her parents, siblings and husband John. A Celebration of Life for Thelma will be held in Carpinteria on Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. at the Carpinteria Woman’s Club clubhouse. 

In lieu of flowers, consider a donation to the Friends of the Carpinteria Library bookstore. For additional information about the celebration or to RSVP, please contact thelmaschmidhausermemorial@gmail.com.