Al Bragstad News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Claude Fred Schmidt passed away at his home in Pequot Lakes, Wednesday, Oct 26, 2022, surrounded by family, at the young age of 94. Claude was born on May 8, 1928, in Pequot Lakes to Herman and Susan Schmidt. He left school in 8th grade and began working for his brother-in-law, Lawrence Henderson, at a dairy in Nisswa. In 1944, at the age of 16, he started working for Burlington Northern RR as a track laborer. In 1951, Uncle Sam came calling and Claude was drafted into the Army and proudly served his country in the Korean War. After his service he returned to work at Burlington Northern and worked his way up to the position of electrician. In total, he worked 44 years for BN and was very proud of the pension he earned. Claude and his BN coworker and longtime friend, Ernie Musolf, were the true life characters of the famous cartoons in the Echo newspaper for 28 years. The cartoons were created by friend Dan Gola who based the cartoons on Claude and Ernie’s lives. Claude and Ernie shar ....

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