Muriel Harriet Solberg Schmidt, 103, of Luxemberg, Wisconsin, passed away at The Sycamore Lodge nursing home on July 31, 2023.
Muriel was born on February 24,1920, in Ashland, Wisconsin, to Victor Rudolph Solberg and Nellie Marcia Pratt Solberg. She graduated from Hayward High School (Wisconsin) in 1937; attended the Ringling School of Art in Florida from 1938–39; and then — at age 35 — attended the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
She married her childhood sweetheart Ralph Whitten Schmidt in Hayward in 1939, and together they ran the Walgreen Store. While raising three children, she was involved in the tourism industry first with Schmidt’s Store in Hayward; then Onyx Cave Park in Eureka Springs, Arkansas; and the Family Museum in Eureka Springs; and most recently as owner and proprietor of the Nel-Vic Tour & Wedding home in Berryville, Arkansas, before retiring to Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Muriel was a member of the Marion Chapter DAR in Eureka Springs; president of the Destiny of America Foundation, Inc.; supporter of The Great Passion Play in Eureka Springs; and a member of the National Small Museum Association, MENSA, and the National Caves Association. She and Ralph had a life-long interest in politics and love of Cocker Spaniels and German Short-Haired Pointers. Muriel enjoyed recounting family stories that she discovered through her passion for genealogy.
She was predeceased by her husband Ralph in 1969, her father and mother, her sister Dorris Mae Cragg in 2021, grandson Frederick Martin Faust in 2020, son-in-law James Michael Faust in 2012, daughter-in-law Pamela Bouyear Schmidt in 2011, and nephew Richard Schmidt in 2021.
She is survived by daughters Harriet Lane Schmidt Faust of Searcy, Arkansas; Gretchen Marie Schmidt (Sam) Vainisi of Denmark, Wisconsin; and son, Robert Whitten (Diane) Schmidt of Holiday Island, Arkansas. Grandchildren include Susan Lane Faust (John Llewellyn) of Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Franklin Michael (Teri) Faust of Searcy, Arkansas; Jeanine Marie Schmidt (Dave) Bealey of Rogers, Arkansas; and granddaughter-in-law Rhonda Kelly Jones (Frederick) Faust of Bentonville, Arkansas. Her eight great-grandchildren are Katherine and James Llewellyn; Taylor Faust (Ian) Mannecke, Kendall and Addison Faust; Whitten and William Faust; and Pearson Dodd. Nephews include Jim and John Cragg; Larry, David and Stephen Schmidt.
Memorials may be made to your favorite charity. Interment pending in Mason, Wisconsin.