Duane Schmidt, a former two-term mayor of Coalville credited with beautifying the city’s Main Street and securing $25 million in grants and low-interest loans to help update the city’s aging infrastructure, died last month. He was 60.
Schmidt was mayor from 2006 to 2013 and is remembered for developing a Main Street park and a skate park in town, but also for securing funding for a $12 million sewage treatment plant that he said would last the city for a half-century.
Current Coalville Mayor Trever Johnson said Schmidt was “someone that would be friends with anybody.”
“One thing you never have to wonder about Duane is where he comes from,” Johnson said. “He’s very direct, very blunt and you always know where he stands on every issue. And that’s something I admire about him.”
Longtime Coalville City Attorney Sheldon Smith said Schmidt was kind and truthful.
“When you met him, you felt like he was your best friend,” he said.
He also touted Schmidt’s work ethic.
“He had his own business, probably spent 12 hours a day on that, and dedicated two, three, four hours a day for Coalville City,” he said. “… You couldn’t ask for a better mayor. He was wonderful.”
Schmidt was born in Baltimore and was a lifelong Baltimore sports fan, according to an online obituary. He owned and operated several businesses on the East Coast and did so again after moving to Utah. He joined the Coalville City Council before being elected mayor.
He resigned before his second term ended when he moved with his family to southwestern Utah.
He died of a rare and aggressive form of cancer the month after it was diagnosed, according to the obituary.
Officials credited Schmidt with preparing Coalville for future growth, something Johnson said Schmidt welcomed.
Johnson said Schmidt asked him to run for office and helped him through the early years of his administration.
“He’s such a talent and a hard worker and a successful entrepreneur. Had a big impact on the community,” Johnson said. “Anytime you lose a community figure like that, a leader like that, I think there’s some heavy hearts. My heart is absolutely crushed for his family. He was a good man.”
Schmidt is survived by his wife and three children.