For more than 40 years at the La Conner School District, Andi Schmittou drove daily bus routes as well as countless team sports, band and student field trips.
And, by all accounts, whether on or off the road, she never veered from a life’s journey marked by tireless devotion to family and service to the community.
Schmittou, who passed away last month at age 80 after a brief illness, is fondly remembered for the depth and breadth of her unwavering civic engagement.
The ultimate time manager, she was a skilled crafter, baker and cake decorator; worked as a scorekeeper for equine and sports contests; taught Sunday School and kept the books at La Conner United Methodist Church; operated the shot clock at Braves basketball games; pitched in at a local day care; volunteered with the school’s booster club; made gymnastics and equestrian outfits;
tended her flower garden; and was among those in the 1980s who started the Dollars For Scholars campaign that eventually morphed into the La Conner Community Scholarship Foundation.
There was also her decades-long commitment to the school district’s transportation department, a role she expanded from driver to that of valued mentor.
“She was always there for you,” recalled district bus driver Barb Howlett. “She could answer any of your questions and would check in with you when something was happening in your life. She was a great mentor.”
Former district transportation Director Kim Pedroza, now a La Conner School Board member, said Schmittou was willing to take on all assignments – from transporting students into Seattle on field trips to driving Braves teams to Spokane, Yakima, Neah Bay, Longview and the San Juan Islands, among other destinations, for sports events.
“Andi would go anywhere, anytime,” Pedroza said. “She absolutely loved the school district and her family.”
‘Fierce supporter of students’
“She was definitely a fixture in the community,” said La Conner Schools Superintendent David Cram who, as a Braves student-athlete, often rode buses that Schmittou drove.
La Conner Schools Director of Teaching & Learning Beth Clothier cited Schmittou’s unyielding commitment to students in her charge.
“She was a fierce supporter of our students,” Clothier said. “It was always clear that she had their care and best interests at heart.”
The 1963 Willapa Valley High valedictorian, Schmittou had a knack for numbers. She was able to solve numerical problems in her head, a talent for which students who rode her bus were grateful.
“She could help the younger kids sitting behind her on the bus with their math homework while she was driving,” confirmed Suzanne Keith, one of Schmittou and husband Van’s three daughters, and herself a La Conner High teacher. “She loved all those kinds of connections she had with the kids.”
After her high school graduation, Schmittou enrolled at Central Washington State College (now Central Washington University) in Ellensburg. Her college choice would direct the course of her adult life.
“When mom was at Central, she met our Aunt Ann,” daughter Beth Bowles said.
That led to her meeting Van Schmittou of La Conner, who was then in the U.S. Army and later became a commercial fisherman. They wed while Van was still in the service, eventually moving to La Conner – where Van’s dad, Thurman, was the town barber, and his mom, Melphine, was the school district’s business manager – when Van finished his tour in the military.
Giving to the community with humility
Schmittou wasted little time fitting into La Conner life, adopting the community as her new home, a relationship that would flourish over the next six decades.
“She loved to be involved in everything,” Keith said.
That included her daughters’ horse shows and athletics.
“Even though she was tiny, she could take care of a 1,200-pound thoroughbred,” Keith said. “She was a great groom with the horses. She could get them ready to go and send us into the ring.”
Keith and sister Sarah Storhoff logged a lot of miles with their mom on the horse show circuit, including the Washington State Fair in Puyallup. Schmittou also embraced the opportunity to attend the sports in which her daughters, grandchildren and their friends took part.
“One thing that I appreciate now is the coordination that it takes to see your kids play sports, ” Bowles said.“I don’t think mom ever missed a game.”
It helped, too, that Schmittou loved sports. When she couldn’t attend in person, she watched games on streaming services. Among her many friendships was one with La Conner High basketball coach Scott Novak, who grew up in Adna, not far from Schmittou’s Willapa Valley haunts.
“Andi was a wonderful person, and I have many fond memories of her. I first met her when her youngest daughter, Beth, was in my fifth-grade class,” said Novak, who no longer coaches but still teaches at La Conner.
“Over the years, I came to know her even better through her driving my basketball teams to games, driving the bus for our field trips, and running the score and shot clocks at my basketball games for many years,” he said.
“I liked visiting with her and enjoyed her sense of humor,” Novak said. “She’ll be greatly missed.”
As word of Schmittou’s death spread, it became apparent that Novak was speaking for the entire community.
“When you think of how much mom did for this community and she did it with such humility, it’s really amazing,” Bowles said. “She never wanted to be in the spotlight.”
Even so, her lifetime of good works didn’t go unnoticed.
Bill Reynolds is a general assignment reporter for La Conner Community News.
