Roy John Schmidt

Roy John Schmidt, Jr.
June 23, 1941 – September 10, 2017
Roy Schmidt died at home in Sherman Oaks, California on Sunday, September 10, 2017 at age 76 years. He was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 23, 1941. Roy grew up right next to the Prospect Park Parade Grounds, where he could hear the crack of baseball bats from his bedroom on Saturday mornings. Though his family moved to Bellevue, Washington, and then to La Crescenta, California, he never lost his love for sports. He particularly loved baseball, and especially the Brooklyn and then the LA Dodgers. He used to say that the Dodgers and his family settled in LA at the same time. At Glendale High School, he was a feisty guard on the basketball team and he wrote a regular column for the Glendale community newspaper on local high school sports. Roy attended Stanford University on a scholarship, majored in history, and continued his interests in sports and journalism as a sports writer and editor of The Stanford Daily.
While at Stanford, he was a member of the Theta Xi fraternity, where he maintained life-long friendships from his undergraduate years. Roy also spent a semester abroad in Florence, Italy. He loved this experience, bought a beret and immersed himself in all things Italian. After graduation in 1963, he continued at the Stanford Law School and was on the Stanford Law Review, where he developed further life time friendships.
Roy accepted a position at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher after graduation from Stanford Law School in 1966. However, he deferred joining the firm so that he could be a Teaching Fellow at Stanford, and also work pro bono in legal aid in the City of Palo Alto. Roy wanted to contribute to the Palo Alto community. This philosophy was part of who Roy was. He believed that those who had the least should be given help from those who had more. He practiced this belief his entire life.
Roy met Patricia S. Little in 1975, on a blind date. It was love at first sight and they were married at Westwood United Methodist Church on June 5, 1976. In 1980, they were blessed with a son, Christopher William, who like his dad, is an attorney.
Throughout his life, Roy could be identified as an intellectual, but not in a pretentious sense. He was someone who spent his life exploring ideas. He loved the law because of its complexity but also because he believed that it was the basis of human social order. Roy had an unshakeable moral compass, absolute dependability, and quiet kindness. He always got everything done for his family, friends, clients and his neighborhood, no matter how long it took or how much sleep he lost in the process. Despite a frenetic and demanding law practice, for example, he managed to design and direct the rebuilding of the family home after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Also, he was always the one to take the initiative to maintain positive relationships among his colleagues, friends, and family. He was a man whose significant influences on many people's lives endure and who will be missed sorely by members of his family and by a multitude of friends. Everyone who knew Roy will remember his unassuming brilliance, his terrific and unique sense of humor and his thoughtful kindness to everyone.
A memorial service will be held to celebrate and reflect on Roy's life on October 14, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. at Westwood United Methodist Church. 10497 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., CA 90024. Parking on site.
In lieu of flowers, a contribution may be made in Roy's name to the school that meant so much to him, for the benefit of students like him, who, though very bright, needed and benefitted from scholarships to get an education. His wish would be that contributions be made either to The Stanford Fund for Undergraduate Education or The Stanford Law School's general fund. Please add a note to your gift indicating that it is in Roy Schmidt's name, to:
Stanford University, Development Services
PO Box 20466
Stanford, CA 94309-0466