Winsor Chase Schmidt MD, age 94, died Thursday, July 24, 2014 at Hospice and Community Care of Mount Joy after a brief illness. Born in Evanston IL, he was the son of Werner Bruno and Margaret Chase Schmidt. He and his wife, Miriam Tebbetts Schmidt, celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary on July 5th.

Chase graduated with honors from Yale University and Harvard Medical School. He won keys from Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma XI, and Alpha Omega Alpha. He served as a physician for the Wabash Railroad in Missouri and as a Captain in the Army Medical Corps during the Korean conflict. For most of his career, Chase was a general practitioner in Tioga County NY and Elmsford NY. During his country and general practices, he made more than seventeen thousand house calls and delivered two hundred and eighty-one babies. At the age of 48 he became an orthopedic surgeon with a private practice in Sleepy Hollow NY. Chase was an Associate Professor of Clinical Orthopedic Surgery at New York Medical College and President of the Medical Staff and Chairman of the Medical Board at Phelps Memorial Hospital.

After his retirement in 1987 Chase lived near Rohrerstown PA, played bad golf at Four Seasons and good chess at the Red Rose Chess Club of Lancaster. He played chess every Wednesday until two weeks prior to his passing. He and his wife Miriam loved to travel, visiting various European countries, Iceland, Turkey, and all 50 states, with cruises to Alaska and the Hawaiian islands. He led a cultured life; he enjoyed classical music, ballet, opera, Broadway plays and, during his retirement, availed himself of the wonderful talents seen at Fulton Opera House and the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra. He read voraciously, especially biographies and history. He was a learned man, he was an energetic man, and he was his own man.

Survivors in addition to his wife are two sons, Winsor Chase Jr. (Lenore) of Louisville KY and Emmett Vance (Debby) of Ambler PA, one daughter Deborah Jill, (Joel Haimes) of Mount Joy PA, seven grandchildren, Winsor Schmidt III (Aleksandra), Benjamin Schmidt (Stephanie), Meredith Edelstein (Jason), Daniel Schmidt, Cari Haimes, Andrea Haimes, and David Haimes. He is also survived by three great-grandchildren, Maxwell, Hannah, and Clara with baby Chase expected in September. A brother, Werner Felix Schmidt and a sister Dorothea M. Wender predeceased him. Chase liked quizzing his family on historical events and telling stories. He enjoyed fishing with his sons, going to the horse races with his brother and then his children, camping, hiking, and traveling to battlefields and National Parks across the US. He painted and he built a boat. We miss him.

"Awake for morning in the bowl of night hath flung the stone that put the stars to flight."

The family will celebrate Chase's life at a later time. Contributions in his memory may be made to Water Street Rescue Missions, 210 S Prince St, Lancaster PA 17603 or Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, www.hawkmountain.org.