- November 26, 2024
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Chase Schmidt tattoes his late father' s police badge on his chest. Photo by Jeff Dawsey
Officer Jonathan Schmidt Courtesy photo
Jason Patrick, Chase Schmidt, coach Paul Shuler and Portia Patrick Photo by Troy Lefford
Schmidt wins by pinfall over an Atlantic wrestler. Photo by Jeff Dswsey
A young Chase Schmidt with his dad, Jonathan Courtesy photo
Seabreeze senior Chase Schmidt once played and loved baseball. But, ever since his father, Officer Jonathan Schmidt, was killed in the line of duty five years ago, he hasn’t gone near a baseball diamond.
Officer Schmidt was shot four times during a routine traffic stop in Trumann, Arkansas, where he died on the scene. Chase Schmidt didn’t just lose his father; he lost his best friend, fishing and hunting buddy and baseball coach.
“When I first heard the news, I didn’t want to believe it,” Schmidt said. “I walked out of my bedroom and saw everyone, and that’s when it set in. Wondering how I was going to go on without a dad was the hardest thing I’ve had to get through, and I’m still trying to get through that, but it’s gotten a little easier now.”
After his father’s death, Schmidt moved in with his mother and stepfather, Portia and Jason Patrick. Not able to continue playing baseball without his father, Schmidt took up jiu-jitsu — his stepfather’s suggestion — and fell in love with it during his middle school years.
With high school approaching, he transitioned to wrestling, and Schmidt took a liking to it more than jiu-jitsu. He’s wrestled every year with Seabreeze, and he was recently honored during the Sandcrabs’ last home match as the lone senior. Schmidt has reached the regional tournament and hopes to make it to states this season to close out his high school career.
New ink
Although it’s been half a decade since his father died, Schmidt often thinks of him. When he hunts and fishes with friends, he’s drawn back to the times when he would invite his friends by saying, “Do you want to hang out with me and my dad?”
To seal his father’s memory, Schmidt had his dad’s badge tattooed on his left chest area two weeks ago.
“It’s a memorial to show that he will never be forgotten,” Schmidt said, “and it gives me a better feeling, knowing that he’s right there.”
Schmidt hopes to become an Emergency Medical Technician and then a career firefighter. He wants to serve in the line of duty like his father. He also wants to continue to live a life where he puts others above himself — like his father.
“No matter if it was a stranger he met on the side of the road or his best friend for 20 years, he always tried to help out everyone the best way he could. And, if I can help someone in any way, I try to do the same.”
Comeback kid: Chase Schmidt went 5-0 at Seabreeze’s Hollingsworth Duals this past Saturday, Dec. 17, at Seabreeze. Schmidt trailed his opponent 9-2 in the second match but pinned him with less than a minute remaining.
Say that again: “No matter if it was a stranger he met on the side of the road or his best friend for 20 years, he always tried to help out everyone the best way he could.”
CHASE SCHMIDT
