BOUNTIFUL, Utah, Nov. 16, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — The family of Annie Schmidt has announced funeral arrangements for the 21-year-old, whose body was found last Friday in an area where she had been hiking on Oct. 16.
Schmidt is the daughter of Jon Schmidt, a member of the St. George musical group The Piano Guys. The story of Annie’s disappearance and the exhaustive search efforts has been shared by the band’s fans, by members of the religious community including the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to which the Schmidts belong, and by thousands of other well wishers around the world.
For that reasons, the Schmidts have added two public receptions to the funeral arrangements, which follow:
Funeral Services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 21, at the Bountiful Utah Heights Stake Chapel, 33 N. Moss Hill Drive.
A public reception will be held before the service, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., in the same location. The other public reception will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, the day before, at the same location.
In lieu of flowers, donations for search related costs may be sent to The El Nino Foundation-Annie, 680 N. 1100 East, Bountiful, Utah, 84010,
On the Remembering Annie Schmidt Facebook page, Jon Schmidt also posted the following tribute, along with a long list of people and agencies he was grateful to. For the list, click here.
The tribute:
When Annie was 6 years old, she had her first public performance in front of 2,000 people, as a guest vocalist at her dad’s concert. Any nervousness Annie felt in front of such a large crowd was quickly drowned out by the beautiful, captivating power that music had upon her soul. A breathless pause followed the end of the song, then the crowd erupted. This dynamic of successfully finding the joy, rather than the fear, in every moment played out again and again throughout Annie’s life.
Annie dreamed of writing, producing, and performing the music that seemed to flow inside her. By the time she was 21, she had produced several songs with her best friend (and brother), Spencer. She felt a driving sense of purpose to pursue music and was studying music production and technology. Recently, Annie told her roommate, “I can’t wait for the day when I can share my music with thousands of people.” We hope this dream of our sweet Annie can be fulfilled as people listen to this deeply meaningful song that she and Spencer co-wrote, co-produced and recorded lead vocals on. She recorded her last vocal tracks for it shortly before she passed from us. Please click this link to listen: https://youtu.be/e4vGIqlhZRc (or click the video player at the top of this story).
Annie truly desired to come closer to God. She also hoped to lose herself in loving others. She had a wonderful gift and ability to reach out to people… to make them realize their value. A highlight in her life was a high school humanitarian trip to Peru, where she fell in love with the people and culture. She served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Macon, Georgia, where she gained many close friends.
Annie was 100% authentic and real. She had a passion for people, self-discovery, learning, nature, surfing, long boarding, discovering great music, unique foods, and dancing. She would demonstrate her sweet hip hop moves anywhere anytime. Her final message to the world was:
Fill your life with good vibes.
This motto of Annie’s is reflected in the following comments sent to us by her friends:
“She was compassionate to the point she felt pain for the downtrodden.”
“Annie was constantly wanting to share some new song with you. She loved to connect with people through music.”
“Annie is fearless.”
“She brings the absolute best out of everyone she is around.”
“She makes you feel like the coolest person in the world and want to be a better person.”
“She is so beautiful on the inside. It is the most admirable thing about her.”
“I have never met someone so loved by everyone around her.”
“She changed so many lives without even taking credit.”
“She’s the most random, spontaneous, funny ball of energy, and never boring to be around.”
“Her spirit is selfless and forever joyful.”
“She always had love radiating around her.”
“Annie is excited about everything… so passionate about life.”
“She would say, ‘It’s all about love.’ She talked about how Jesus was all about love.”
“When I moved out here my senior year, Annie would make me go to lunch with her and a friend of hers who was special needs. I used to ask her why don’t we go to lunch with our friends, and she would always say, ‘Because this girl doesn’t have friends. We are it.’”
We will dearly miss our absolutely fabulous, wonderful, incredible and amazing Annie!!!
Annie passed away October 16, 2016 of injuries sustained from an accidental fall while hiking in the north-face cliff area below Munra Point in the Columbia Gorge region of Oregon. She was born December 30, 1994 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Jon Schmidt and Michelle Anderegg Schmidt. She is survived by her parents; brothers Spencer, Jonny and Chris; sister Sarah; grandparents Werner and Lieselotte Schmidt and grandparents Jerry and Cathy Anderegg.
So sorry for your lost,my dearest condolences.It seems that life just stops there in some way it does.But she is in god’s hands and I’m sure she’s your pride and joy for Annie she don’t want you sad,She loves you too.