RETIRED LOCAL FIRE CHIEF
Jim Schmidt was a newspaper publisher and lifelong promoter of his hometown
Newspaper publisher, firefighter, musician, author, local athlete, and promoter of his hometown of Ayr, James W. (Jim) Schmidt has died at the age of 95.
After a short illness, he died on May 22, 2023 at Freeport Hospital in Kitchener surrounded by his family.
Jim had a lengthy career in journalism at The Ayr News.
John A. Schmidt, Jim’s father, was a grocery clerk in Galt when The Ayr News came up for sale in 1913. He and his brother Alfred purchased it.
John A. had three sons John T., Robert and James. All three apprenticed at The Ayr News.
Jim left school at 15 and began his apprenticeship in 1942.
Prior to that, he had parttime duties at the paper, like bringing water from the river that was needed to run the presses, and picking up ads from downtown businesses.
In 1968, Jim became the sole owner, publisher and editor of the independent weekly newspaper, which is now one of the oldest newspapers in Canada.
Jim worked at The Ayr News well into his 80s. The operation of the newspaper and the printing and publishing company is now handled by his family.
In addition to running the newspaper, Jim was a tireless promoter of enhancements to community services including water and sewage systems, arenas, community centres and parks in the village of Ayr.
Jim served as a volunteer firefighter in North Dumfries Township for more than 50 years, including 17 years as
Chief.
Schmidt Park is named after him in recognition to his service to the community.
On his 90th birthday, Jim recalled stories his father told him about the depression when people couldn’t afford to pay for the paper, so they traded subscriptions for things like potatoes and eggs.
In his book 100 Year Trip with the Schmidt Family and the Ayr News, Jim also recalled that in the 1940s the paper was distributed to surrounding villages on a bus that had a route through the countryside.
When the bus company went out of business in 1950, Schmidt started delivering the papers to the local post offices, including Beachville. However, that delivery stopped when the subscriber, Lavina McCombs, moved to Ayr and married him.
“In 1951 this young lady, Lavina McCombs, became my partner for life and the mother of eight children that would keep me in Ayr and would make sure the Ayr News was owned by the Schmidt family for 100 years,” he wrote.
Jim said he learned a lot from his father about how to make a newspaper successful. That included having a local opinion column and publishing local news “that nobody else has.”
Jim’s father wrote a column called the Rambling Reporter and it continues as the Junior Rambler, written by Jim’s son Paul.
Jim wrote the Ayring the News column for over 35 years, and it also continues,
now written by his daughter Irene.
Jim started running The Ayr News on his own following the death of his father and brother Robert.
Putting out a weekly newspaper in those days was very
time-consuming. He worked six days a week and didn’t get off each day until about 8 p.m.
At the same time, he was a member of the local volunteer fire department for over 50 years, and retired as chief. And, he was a founding mem-
ber of the Ayr-Paris Band.
“I don’t know whether I liked it when I started,” he said of working at the Ayr News “but it gave me the freedom to do the things I really liked doing. If I wasn’t in here, I was with the band or the firefighters.”
He said he worked well over 20 years before he got his first holiday, when they decided to shut down The Ayr News in the summer at the same time that factories shut down.
Jim retired in 2014, but was often called upon for his knowledge of the history of Ayr.
In addition to publishing the newspaper, Jim wrote several books.
In 1997, he authored a book on the history of Ayr, and in 2006 he wrote a book on the Ayr-Paris Band for its 50th anniversary, which he co-founded in 1956. He also wrote a book on the history of Ayr Public School.
In 1993, Jim was honoured with the Gold Quill Award by the Ontario Community Newspaper Association (OCNA) in recognition of 50 years of service.
In 2002, he received the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in recognition of volunteer service and community building.
Jim was inducted into the Region of Waterloo Hall of Fame in 2013.
In 2017, Jim received the Diamond Quill Award from the Ontario Community Newspaper Association for his 75 years in the community newspaper business.
He was the first OCNA member to reach this milestone.
