Joy Schmidt of Red Lake Falls, MN passed away on Sunday, November 28, 2021, at Sanford Hospital in Fargo, ND.
Mass of Christian burial will be held on Friday, December 3, 2021, at 2:00 PM in St. Joseph Catholic Church in Red Lake Falls with Father Bob Schreiner Officiating. Burial will be held at St. Dorothy Catholic Church in Dorothy, MN. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service on Friday.
Joy Rosemarie Pauling was born on March 25, 1966, at St. Frances Hospital in Crookston, MN the daughter of Theodore Ronald and Rosemary Roxanne Pauling. Joy was raised in Brooklyn Park, Thief River Falls, MN, Bloomington, MN, Kandiyohi, MN, Bloomington, MN, Red Lake Falls, and Erskine, MN. Joy moved to Alaska where she received her high school degree and worked. She then moved back to Red Lake Falls where she lived the rest of her life.
On June 26th, 1993. She was united in marriage to David Schmidt at the Point in Red Lake Falls, MN. The couple made their home in Red Lake Falls. Although the marriage did not continue until Joy’s passing they remained friends.
Joy worked as a waitress, a dancer, and Northwood Group Home as a Consumer Counselor. Her most recent employment was working as a housekeeper at the Chateau Motel for Brian and Renae Lehrer where they looked after her and treated her as family.
Joy was a volunteer at the Day Care Center and Hillcrest Nursing Home for many years.
Joy enjoyed helping close friends, family, and perfect strangers. She was very committed to the volunteer work she did at Hillcrest Nursing Home. Joy often reached out to others giving them rides to appointments, the grocery store, or the food shelf. To be a volunteer driver was her next career goal. Little children always held a special place in her heart. Loved ones were always on her mind, she often brought simple trinkets and individualized gifts to family and friends. She enjoyed fishing on the river, picking wild asparagus (secret spot to this day), gathering feddleheads from young ferns, and searching for wild mushrooms in the spring of the year. In her early adulthood, she enjoyed gardening and canning. Joy has always cherished the pets in her life, most recently her cat Spike. Often she would visit family farms just to hang out and feed the farm animals. She loved attending family functions, spending time at the casino, and visiting her niece April on the family farm where her mother lived. Joy also appreciated her independence and spending time alone.
Joy is survived by her siblings Cheryl (George) Simanovski of St. Hilaire, MN, Wade (Laurie) Pauling of Winstd, Aubrey (Eny) Johnson of Andover, MN, Michelle Wehrle of Plummer, MN, Merleen (Mike) Knott of Red Lake Falls, MN, Kimberly Jegloski of Andover, MN and Lowell (Nuvia) Johnson of Pine City, MN; many nieces and nephews, great-nieces and nephews.
Joy is preceded in death by her grandparents, parents, siblings Michael Pauling, Roxanne Christenson, and Scott Pauling.
Condolences may be sent at www.johnsonfuneralservice.com
