James H. Schmidt, 87, passed away on April 21, 2020 in Greenwich, CT. A longtime resident of Greenwich, he was born on July 14, 1932 in Columbus, Ohio to Charles and Theresa Schmidt.
A graduate of North High School in Columbus, he attended the University of Hawaii while serving in the U.S. Army. After his discharge from the service, he continued his education at The Ohio State University and worked in sales and management positions over a seven-year period with local automobile dealerships. In 1961, he joined the Columbus office of Paine, Webber, Jackson and Curtis as a broker-trainee where he became one of the firm’s top producers.
He was promoted successively to Sales Manager, Office Manager, and Regional Manager before a transfer to manage the firm’s Chicago office and its surrounding region. While there, he was appointed Senior Vice President, named to the PaineWebber Board of Directors, an Allied Member of the New York Stock Exchange, and was also named to the NASD Business Conduct Committee. In 1977, he was appointed Central Division Manager following the combination of the Chicago Region with five other Regions. In 1979, he transferred to the New York headquarters to manage the firm’s 234 office Branch Division; and was named a Director of the PaineWebber holding company Board. In 1981, he became Vice Chairman and Director of the
Fixed Income Division in charge of Government, Corporate, Municipal, and Mortgage-backed Bond Trading, Preferred Stock Trading, and Municipal Investment Banking. He served as Chairman of the Board of PaineWebber Real Estate Securities Co. in addition to Board membership of several PaineWebber Mutual Funds. In 1985, he moved to a consulting role as part of his transition to retirement and pursuit of other business activities. He purchased Timer Digest, a financial newsletter, in 1987 to fulfill a career-long interest in the community of professional market analysts.
Outside of business, he was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. His competitive spirit was dedicated to sailing in several different classes of boat. And, he enjoyed restoring and maintaining his collection of several old cars.
His cherished wife of 63 years, the former Nancy Ann Nowe, passed away in April of 2018. He is survived by his two sons Jim of Greenwich, CT and Jeff of New Canaan, CT; daughter-in-law Liz; six grandchildren: Hillary, Alexandra, Charlotte, Andrew, James, and Anna; along with sister-in-law Janet W. Schmidt of Kerrville, Texas, as well as other relatives.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation to a charity of your choice.
