Vernita Jean Becker Schmitz, 96 of Overland Park, KS passed away November 8, 2026. The visitation will be from 9-10 a.m. with the Funeral Mass at 10 a.m. on Thursday, November 19 at Church of the Ascension, 9510 W. 127th St., Overland Park, KS. Burial will be in Resurrection Cemetery at 1:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial contribution to Church of the Ascension.
Vernita Jean Becker was born 11/3/1930 in Gilbertville, Iowa to Hilda and Adrian Becker. Their first child of eight. The Beckers were farmers and rented, which resulted in moving nearly every March for over sixteen years. This meant a different school for the children and very different living conditions each time. Verni described her youth as being a hired man in the morning working with her dad, and as a hired girl in the afternoon for neighbors. Her mother, Hilda, was her hero due to her quiet courage and determination through difficult pregnancies and attempting to feed so many with so few resources.
Verni left home with a paper bag of clothes at 17 and was an elevator operator in downtown Waterloo, Iowa at the Black’s building. She became a dental assistant and developed friendships where graham cracker pie was a favorite treat at lunch! Before she moved to Waterloo, she attended church with her parents at St. Mary’s of Mount Carmel in Eagle Center, where she met Maurice Schmitz one morning when she held the church door for him and his mother. When a great deal of rain closed the road, a parishioner invited folks to come for breakfast. It was during such an event that Maury and Verni, whose families were stranded until the water receded, had the opportunity to interact. They dated and were engaged on Valentine’s Day of 1949. He was a blond blue-eyed farmer, and she was a sparkling eyed brunette with a quick laugh and sense of humor. They married June 28, 1949 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. They loved to dance and play cards with friends.
With their respective upbringings, feeling as though neither of them knew much at the start of the journey, they made a promise to one another that whatever family they had would not want for food, or be cold. After several years together, they had joyfully welcomed nine children, farmed, raised livestock, had huge gardens and produced most of what they needed. For Verni’s part, beyond tending to the needs of the kids, there was a daily flurry of mopping the floor for crawling kids, changing cloth diapers(hundreds), laundry in the basement, cooking three meals a day, doing chores, mending and making clothes, tending a garden with harvesting of peas, potatoes, corn, tomatoes, apples, strawberries, beans, onions, baking bread, pies, rolls, and raising and ensuring processing of chickens(~300), keeping the budget and all farm records, and much more, for eleven! In the middle of all that responsibility, she always had flowers blooming (roses, peonies, iris, daisies, bachelor buttons, forget-me-nots, coreopsis, columbine, clematis, hens and chicks, daffodils, tulips, crocus, delphiniums, and more); every year in beautiful large-scale profusion! In the sixties, Maury became employed at John Deere Corporation. This enhanced their standard of living with children becoming more active (fleet rate for vehicles at one point), having insurance, and paying off a farm. All of their children obtained a higher education, of which they were very proud. It was a clean home with discipline, warmth, laughter and games, much teamwork, lots of good food, and an example of parents who worked hard and were very industrious.
They each took on professions in addition to farming which were farm appraisal for Maury and LPN nursing for Verni. When retired, they traveled via car a number of times across the USA and loved and appreciated every minute! They visited family and friends often with a visit to children out-of-state nearly every six months.
They were prolific during their work and retirement years with woodwork clocks, treadle sewing machines, wind chimes, etc. for Maury, and doilies, afghans (hundreds), lap robes (hundreds), quilts (cross stitch, candlewick, embroidered, applique), genealogy of the four branches of the family, and documenting extensive recollections of her and Maury’s and the family’s years together. It was not until her nineties that Verni revealed a number of notebooks where she had jotted down memories for years and extensive scrapbooks created in the early years of their marriage (Maury had no idea and marveled at this!); so did we! They were born and lived in Iowa until their 70’s and 50th anniversary, when they moved to Kansas City.
Verni’s written notes in her beautiful cursive hand are a keepsake for all. Many notes written for occasions, as a thank you, or just because to inquire on our well-being and to share events of daily life. She always prayed while crocheting or making a quilt. Her favorite saint was St. Jude, whom she called upon regularly for a wide array of individuals, and occasionally for herself.
She and Maury joyfully celebrated 74 years of marriage before his passing in 2023. By then, home was in comfortable assisted living. Verni had always deferred to Maury and was content to be ‘in the background’, though an equal partner in their marriage. Upon being widowed, Verni began to let her personality shine! She became an ambassador, who welcomed new residents within the community, was sought out for her kind words of interest in others, and the spicy comments, life events stories, and humor that she shared with a genuine laugh! She remained busy with praying, large print word find books, mahjongg and news on her laptop, crocheting lap robes and gifting them, chatting with visitors and staff and family, taking phone calls from family and friends, and very occasionally watching a baseball game. When she said different times that she just wanted to be with Maury, others would remind her that they still needed her HERE!
This woman was kind, an extremely hard worker, constantly industrious, committed, loving, devoted, thoughtful, reliable, fun, funny, strong willed, inquisitive, curious, beautiful (only wore lipstick), very faith-filled, and humble … a servant! She enriched our lives in countless ways that will continue to reveal themselves throughout our days; we celebrate this remarkable woman, mother, and friend!
Rest in peace, Mom. 11/8/2026