Violet Kathleen (Schmidt) Weitzman, 93, of Fruita, CO, passed on Friday, Dec. 18, 2020, with her family at her side. Born May 6, 1927 in Elkhart, IN, she was a daughter of George Schmidt and Irene Pusel.

Violet had a long and adventurous life. A book was written about her when she was 10 called "The Little Girl Who Waved." Her mother died a year later, and she was placed in St. Vincent's Villa Orphanage where she learned how to play baseball. She played professional baseball in the 1940s [1946 Rockford Peaches] and is in the Women's Baseball Hall of Fame and the movie "ALeague of Their Own."

Her husband, Elmer Weitzman, Jr., died in 1969, and Violet went to work for Father Yast in South Bend. She had many friends and traeled extensiely. Violet never knew a stranger and loved sharing pictures of her baseball days and travels. Her adventurous spirit carried on and for her 90th birthday she went skydiving.

Surviving are two daughters, a son, two grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. Violet was preceded in death by all of her siblings.

Memorial graveside service, July 22, 2021, was at Greenlawn Memorial Park in Fort Wayne, IN.