Juliana Christine Schmitz, age 94, of Carroll, IA, passed away on Thursday, February 27, 2025 at St. Anthony Nursing Home in Carroll.
Mass of the Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 A.M. on Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at St. Lawrence Catholic Church – St. John Paul II Parish in Carroll. The Celebrant will be Father Timothy Schott and Con-Celebrant will be Father Merlin Schrad. Lectors will be Jim Schmitz and John Schmitz. Mass Servers will be her great-grandchildren, Abby Williams and George Brown. Gift bearers will be her granddaughters. Casket bearers will be her grandsons: Curt Pietig, Randy Kasparbauer, Craig Sondgeroth, Philip Sondgeroth, Adrian Tracy, Andrew Bierl, and Evan Schmitz. Burial will be in the Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Carroll.
A visitation will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 P.M. on Monday, March 3, 2025 at the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Carroll with a Rosary at 4:30 P.M. and a Christian Wake Service held at 7:00 P.M. The casket will be moved to the church at 9:30 A.M. Tuesday morning where visitation will resume from 9:30 to 10:15 A.M.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to the family for a later designation.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Carroll and condolences may be left for the family at www.dahnandwoodhouse.com.
Juliana was born on July 11, 1930 on her family’s farm west of Glidden and was the daughter of Fred Conrad and Mary Elizabeth (Kennebeck) Masching. Julie, as she was known to most, grew up on the farm and attended Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic School. After her schooling she worked on the farm and helped several local families with housekeeping. The family moved to Colorado when she was 15 years old where she worked for the Glockner Penrose Hospital in the dietary department and later for the Alexander Film Company where she worked making movie advertisement trailers. Julie met her future husband Alver Schmitz “Smitty”, who came to Colorado with her brother to visit her family. They were married on February 25, 1952 at Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Carroll by Fr. Nicholas Ruba. The couple made their home in Halbur for one year before moving back to Colorado Springs for nine years where Alver was the Dairy Manager for the Sisters of Mount St. Frances in Woodmen Valley and Julie was a homemaker. In 1962 they moved back to Iowa and lived in Carroll where they raised their seven children. Julie worked at Lee’s Store behind the lunch counter and later she worked for New Hope Village at the group home on North West Street until her retirement. Julie is a member of St. Lawrence Catholic Church – St. John Paul II Parish, where she was active with the church guild. She enjoyed playing bingo and cards and spending time with her family.
Julie is survived by her seven children: five daughters – Chris Pietig (Dennis) of Carroll, Karen Kasparbauer (Dennis) of Manning, Carol Sondgeroth (Paul) of Ames, Laure Tracy of Orem, UT, and Sherry Bierl (Mike) of Panora, two sons – James Schmitz (Kimberly) of Urbandale, IA, and John Schmitz (Traci) of Bennington, NE; 20 grandchildren; 4 step grandchildren; 31 great-grandchildren; 6 step great-grandchildren; brother Marvin Masching of Minnesota; a sister-in-law Ruth Masching of Colorado; and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Julie was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Alver in 2001, son-in-law James Tracy, sisters Irene Masching, Alice (Joe) Stitz, Marian (Albert) Berning, Viola (Simon) Langel, and Helen (Marvin) Stevens, brothers Leon (Dorothy) Masching and Alvin Masching, and sister-in-law Judy Masching.
