Getting to know you: Lisa Schmitt
Lisa Schmitt is likely best known for her role as Mayor of Grant, but there is a lot the people of the community she serves may not know about her.
Schmitt, 53, moved around the western United States during her childhood. She was born in Fort Collins, Colo. before moving to Fresno, Calif. and eventually migrating back to her mother’s hometown of Imperial when she was 10 years old.
It was during this time Schmitt’s father Charles, who was a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, passed away, and her family experienced hardships.
Schmitt said she experienced quite a bit of culture shock after moving to Imperial from Fresno.
“Everything was different,” she said. “It was safe to play outside. People were friendly. My brother did really well, but my sister and I had a hard time adjusting to the small town atmosphere.”
Her mother was a farmer in Imperial on her family’s farmland. Schmitt remembers driving around every spring in the fields looking for calves.
When she was a child, Schmitt hoped to someday farm her Grandpa Eldredge Baker’s land. Life took her on a different path, however.
In 1985, Schmitt joined the Navy where she was a yeoman, or a clerk in other words. She worked for several different admirals during her service, and she was even in Miramar when the film “Top Gun” was shot.
She attended college at Mid-Plains Community College where she got an associate’s degree in general studies. She graduated in 1995 before moving to Naples, Italy where Randy Schmitt, her husband, was stationed.
Schmitt married her husband, Randy Schmitt 29 years ago after meeting at her sister’s high school graduation reception.
They moved to Grant 21 years ago after their time in Naples. Schmitt thought Grant would be a good place to raise her family so her kids could be close to their grandparents.
Lisa and Randy have two daughters, Naomi Thompson and Sarah Schmitt, who now live on the eastern side of the state.
The Schmitts also have two dogs, Mary and Ryder, and two cats, Stella Bianca and Nibbler, who Schmitt wants to rename Victoria.
“He is a boy, but he is such a drama queen,” Schmitt joked. “I think his name should be Victoria or King George or something like that.”
Lisa works as an Ag Relationships Coordinator at Adams Bank and Trust in Grant, and has been at her position for nine years. Her husband is employed with Midwest Electric.
Outside of her day job, Schmitt is the Mayor of Grant. She decided to run for Mayor after attending council meetings and realizing she wanted to make a difference. Schmitt was elected in 2018.
She is also active in Grant Rotary Club, the Lions Club and the altar committee at Zion Lutheran Church.
Rotary has helped her stay in touch with businesses and people in the area, and says it’s a good way to stay connected.
“It’s an easy way to interact and keep a pulse on what’s going on in town, so to speak,” Schmitt said. “It’s a very positive atmosphere, and it’s very uplifting.”
She made the decision to join the Lion’s Club after she was invited to present the pool project to the club. She enjoyed the meeting so much, and when they invited her back she decided to join.
Schmitt’s favorite thing about her job and community service is interacting with all the people she gets the opportunity to meet.
Schmitt’s Secrets
The people and the warm summers are Schmitt’s favorite part about living in Southwest Nebraska, though people are also what Schmitt is afraid of.
“I love them, but people can be pretty scary!” Schmitt said.
Schmitt doesn’t believe she has any hidden talents, and deemed herself “ordinary.”
One thing most people don’t know about her is when she was stationed in Florida in 1986, she witnessed the fatal incident when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded.
“What started out as exciting quickly became very tragic,” she said.
One job Schmitt thinks she would be terrible at is cooking. In fact, her favorite home-cooked meal is one cooked by anyone else but her! She particularly prefers her husband’s grilled steaks, though.
Reading a book is one thing she likes to do the old-fashioned way. The smell of a book and the sound of cracking a book open keep her drawn to the physical copies over eBooks.
Her favorite book series at the moment is Sue Gafton’s Alphabet Series. The novels feature a private investigator names Kinsey Millhone in the fictional city of Santa Teresa, California.
The best single day on the calendar, in her opinion, is December 21. It’s the shortest day of the year, but every day afterward has a little more daylight.
“I enjoy the sunshine!” she said.
Schmitt has two favorite movies: “Grease,” because she loves the music and “George of the Jungle” because she finds it quite funny.
Jim Thorpe is her favorite athlete, because he was versatile and incredibly athletic.
Thorpe was the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States in the Olympics. He competed in a variety of sports including football, baseball and basketball.
Her favorite band is the Dallas String Quartet, which she described as “where Bach meets Bon Jovi.” The band includes both traditional and electric string instruments.
In fact, Dallas String Quartet’s rendition of “Don’t Stop Believin’” is her favorite song at the moment.
Schmitt’s favorite quote is by famous scientist Albert Einstein: “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”
In her free time, Schmitt enjoys birdwatching, gardening and volunteering. She also does paint by number art, and is starting to learn to quilt.
Schmitt’s biggest pet peeve is when people give up instead of working out a solution.
Her drink of choice is coffee, which she loves to get from her favorite restaurant Little Bluestem.
Apples with peanut butter are Schmitt’s favorite snack, and her favorite candy is black licorice.
Her favorite travel destination is wherever she can see her family. Her daughters currently live on the other side of the state, so she enjoys traveling to visit them.
Schmitt has two accomplishments which she considers her greatest: serving in the Navy and being Grant’s mayor.
Besides the days her children entered the world, Schmitt said the greatest day of her life is returning stateside after serving overseas.
She said she felt so much joy being back, and she felt so proud of America.
“I don’t think people can appreciate how great America is until they have lived in other countries,” Schmitt said.
Schmitt’s idea of a perfect day is any day spent with friends, family and people she loves.
The greatest challenge she has faced in life is when she became her mother’s caretaker. Schmitt said her mother had been ill for a long time, and she took care of her.
In the next 10 years, Schmitt looks forward to time spent with family. She also looks forward to watching Grant continue to grow, and plans to run for mayor again in the future.
Schmitt said she wants people to know she is honored to serve as the mayor of Grant, because it is an amazing place to live and she is happy to call it home.