Roberta O'Hara Schmitt

Roberta O’Hara Schmitt, 81, died peacefully in her sleep on December 8, 2023. Her cherished daughters, Maria-Kristina and Tara Schmitt, were grateful to be at her bedside in her final days.

Her beloved husband of more than 53 years, John J. Schmitt, predeceased her on May 21, 2021.

Bobbie, as she was known by all, was of a generation of women who understood their power to shape the future. Through her career and non-profit work, as a devoted friend, and in her dedication to her family, she applied her passions and talents to create community and foster connections.

For close to 50 years, Bobbie was the consummate communications professional in government and industry, earning the respect and admiration of her colleagues and superiors. “Employee communications” or the like was usually the job title, but, really, she specialized in nurturing a corporate culture built on honest and straightforward communications.

Her commitment to fostering cultures that value individuals made her the perfect fit for not-for-profits, serving long stints on the boards of Montessori Children’s House in Olean, NY and Meta House and CORE El Centro in Milwaukee.

Family was a driving force for Bobbie. She celebrated and stewarded her heritage, organizing two family reunions to honor both her maternal and paternal lineage. She cherished family traditions, those inherited and those she created for her shared family with John.

John and Bobbie were a love story for the ages. They enhanced one another—together they enjoyed, debated, and discussed everything from theater to books to current events. But their one shared love was their daughters, Maria and Tara.

They didn’t raise their daughters so much as they celebrated them, cheering them on in every dream and striving. And if Bobbie celebrated her daughters, she adored her grandchildren: Ian, Trevor, Julian, and Catherine. And they adored her back. A grandchild’s performance was not to be missed whether an Irish dance feis, a sports comedy show, a play, or a rowing regatta.

Always putting family first, Bobbie and John made their home an extravaganza of holiday celebrations, with family and friends spilling out of the jam-packed dining room, and lingering dinner parties with spirited conversations late into the evenings.

Every event was an adventure, and Bobbie was always up for that, having taken her first adventure in college as a summer student at Oxford. Her travelogues mailed home – written in that neat Bobbie script on the flimsy blue air post paper of the day – read like a Dickens’ serial.

But decades-long friendships may have been her ultimate adventures, as Bobbie packed her days with long conversations with friends about families, work, the world, and what they were reading.

A graduate of St. Rose College in Albany, NY, with an MA in English from Marquette University, her career spanned a Catholic magazine for students in Milwaukee; Loyola University and the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago; Dresser Clark Industries in Olean; Mount Mary University, Rexnord, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Milwaukee.

Bobbie received the 2007 Vatican II Award for Ecumenism from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. She was committed to interfaith dialogue, celebrating the Council’s affirmation of the inclusivity of salvation and working closely with Muslim and Jewish communities to enhance understanding and acceptance.

Bobbie is survived by her daughter Maria and her husband Jarrett Ernst, and their sons, Ian and Trevor, of Wauwatosa, WI; her daughter Tara and her partner Matthew Bailey, and her son Julian and daughter Catherine, of Shaker Heights , OH; her brother Edwin V. O’Hara, of Placentia, CA, who always thought Bobbie was his gift since she was born on his first birthday; and her brother James A. O’Hara III, of Nashville, TN, who always remained Jimmy to Bobbie and her family.