David Schmille

David was born January, 2nd 1960, in St Louis Missouri. He was adopted along with His twin brother, Luke Schmille, by Charles and Jo Ann Schmille. As a kid David enjoyed spending time with Luke and their neighborhood friends, playing baseball, football, and fishing.

In 1977, while in high school, he started working as a dishwasher at The Ramada Inn at the Kansas City International Airport. Within a few months he worked his way up to cook position and then became the sous chef to his good friend, Dave Kemmerly who also worked at the hotel. He later became the head chef at Hotel President in downtown Kansas City.

David met his wife Terri in 1978 at Park Hill High School. Terri was running stairs while she was training for Track and David was training for Baseball. David would always remark on how beautiful Terri was that day. Terri and David, started dating shortly after meeting each other, this started what was to be a lifelong relationship.

David married Terri on rainy Saturday, January 19, 1980. It was a short ceremony, they did not have any money for a honeymoon so the following Monday it was back to work making the commitment to each other that someday they would go on a honeymoon... almost 40 years later, their life together became a honeymoon that lasted through the decades!

In 1983 David graduated from the University of Missouri and shortly thereafter their daughter Joanna was born in 1985. While Terri focused on being a full time mom, David climbed the Corporate ladder at Brinker International. He started at Chilis, then went on to work at Cozymel’s and On the Border, eventually ending his career at Brinker as the Chief Operating Officer of Macaroni Grill. During this time moves took the family to Plano Texas, then on to Detroit Michigan and Chicago Illinois where their son Taylor was born. After Taylor’s birth in 1990, they transferred back to their hometown of Kansas City for a short time, and then to Coppell, Texas. After Joanna's graduation from Coppell High School they set up a permanent home in Westlake Texas where they lived for the last 16 years. They were a great team, David working and Terri raising the kids.

During his time working in the corporate world, David also took time to compete in Triathlons. He completed his first Ironman, a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and 26.2 mile run, in 2002. Over the next few years Dave completed multiple races, always focusing on improving himself mentally and physically. After a brief hiatus to focus on family and business, Dave returned to Ironman along with his son Taylor in 2011. Together they competed in races until 2015. Dave completed 7 Ironmans over his life, and was extremely happy to have had a chance to train and race with his son.

In 1990, David and Terri went on their first cruise ship and got hooked on the lifestyle, culture and food of the Caribbean Islands. The Schmille family just loved being on the water and cruising. So cruise they did, all over the Caribbean Islands!

In 2003, David and Terri formed Island Time Restaurant Ventures and became franchisees of Fish City Grill. Openings included restaurants in Dallas, Houston and Rogers Arkansas. Dave became Dad of the Island Time family. All the employees and guests absolutely loved him. He was a very hard worker, but he had so much fun at the same time. He loved working in the restaurants, meeting new employees and guests and getting to know all them. In 2011 Terri and David also became one of the founding partners in Fins Restaurant Concepts, in Boise, Idaho. Currently they operate 10 restaurants in three states.

Forming Island Time Restaurant Ventures and Fins Concepts allowed David and Terri to fulfill their goal of owning their own restaurant company while giving them enough free time to travel the Caribbean, thus making up for their missed honeymoon... Island Time was just that as they spent much of their free time sailing and vacationing in the Caribbean.

Graduating down to smaller boats as time went on, they set sail to smaller islands. They spent time enjoying sailing with their friends Ted and Betsy. Ted, Betsy, Terri and David were Windjammer sailing participants in two inaugural sails in the Caribbean islands throughout the Grenadines and Lesser Antilles. Sailing and traveling to the Caribbean became part of what they did every month or so, David and Terri loved the sand, water and of course the overall vibe of Caribbean life!
David’s other favorite sailing port of calls include the Bahama’s Outer Islands, the ABC Islands, the British Virgin Islands and the US Virgin Islands. David and Terri, sailed many of the Leeward and Windward islands, all the while creating lifelong memories. Two of David’s favorite sailing ships were the Diamant and the Mandalay, the latter of which David and Terri sailed on it for two weeks straight, hitting 16 different islands.

Other things he enjoyed while at sea included holding hands with Terri at night while sleeping on deck of a sailing ship, watching and wishing on falling stars, and the excitement of seeing the Southern Cross all became a part of their allure to sailing the islands. They visited many islands in the Caribbean but they had six favorites;
Grenada
Bonaire - ABC Islands
Bequia - Grenadines
Caye Caulker off of Belize
The British Virgin Islands
and Jamaica

When not sailing the Caribbean, Negril Jamaica became David’s favorite weekend hang out. With his good friends Jeff and Carol Riffert, who introduced him to Negril, Jamaica. He visited there many, many times. He made lots of friends in Negril. His Jamaican family loved him and always looked forward to seeing him, especially his good friend O’Neil Todd.

Another thing He loved was his extended family and all the kids at God Cares Primary School in Uganda. One day during a church service there was mentioning of a mission trip to Uganda. Dave said God had spoke to him and told him to go. He went one year and ended up leading the mission team to Uganda for the next decade. David made over 10 mission trips to Uganda where he would play and have fun with the kids while teaching them about God. David always said that the kids taught him more than he could have ever taught them. He learned so much from them. He always looked forward to his annual trip, and also included his Terri and Joanna in his travels when he could. Dave loved all the Ugandan people, especially the kids, who called him “Uncle Dave”. And they loved him too!

Family was everything to David, and he absolutely loved his grandkids, they were the light of his life! They called him “Pa” and he loved it! His first grandson, Jaden was born on June 9th 2011. David was so excited! Jaden quickly became David’s “Little Buddy”. David decided after Jaden was born that he wanted 10 more grandkids! Rowen, David’s second grandson, was born on April, 20th 2016. David was so excited to have another grandbaby! Rowen was his “Little Man”. David enjoyed spending any extra time he had with Jaden and Rowen spoiling them and giving them ice cream as much as possible! On January 13th, 2019 David was blessed with his third grandson, Asher David. David was so proud that the newest addition to the Schmille family was named after him!

David, being a big kid himself would always play outside with the grandkids, play in the pool, take them fishing, take them to the mountains and the beach, ride with them in his micro-bus, and feed them ice cream and treats before bed! Anything they wanted, he loved to spoil them! He was so proud to be a grandpa! He always planned activities for the family, island trips, concerts, car show events, RV road trips, and football games. Anything to have fun and spend family time together. A couple of years ago Terri and David purchased a mountain home in Fraser, Colorado. David, grew up going skiing and took his kids many times. This house allowed him to be in the mountains or on the beach whenever he wanted. David loved being in the mountains with the kids and grandkids both in the winter and summer.

David was an avid Kansas City Chiefs and Royals fan going back to his early life in Kansas City. He loved taking family and friends to games whenever he could, and he was very happy to take Terri to a Royals World Series game in 2015.

In 2017 David was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease. Even as his health began to deteriorate he was forever there for his family and friends, just as in the past, always putting others first. David showed us through his determination that no matter what obstacles life puts in your path, there is always good times to be had, and that the Lord always has a plan.

David would want us all to celebrate the time we had together and not dwell on his passing. David was a godly man and a man of faith. He loved life, lived life big, celebrated life, and never wore socks. He would encourage each of you to do the same!