By Cypress Cove Resident Robert Runck
Those who have lived in or visited Fort Myers for a number of years recall the aging downtown. You might be interested to know that Cypress Cove resident Chuck Schmitt played an important role in the later revitalization of that area.
Chuck, an architect, was responsible for the historic restoration of the Murphy-Burroughs House and the old Lee County Courthouse, now housing various offices of the County Commissioners. Both sites are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. He was also the architect for the Lee Growth Management Facility. More recently, his firm was involved in constructing the new Luminary Hotel on the downtown waterfront.
Other significant projects included several County Libraries, including the new downtown Main Library and our own Lakes Library, several buildings for Florida Gulf Coast University and Florida Southwestern State College, and the Revs Institute, an automobile museum in Naples.
Chuck and Sally grew up in the Midwest, Sally in Mundelein, a suburb of Chicago, and Chuck in Wauwatosa, outside Milwaukee. They met while students at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. Chuck earned a B.A. in architecture, Sally a degree in elementary education.
Chuck followed through with ROTC, and after graduation, served two years as a lieutenant in the Army Amphibious Engineers, at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Wash., and Fort Story in Virginia Beach, Va. Being near a Navy base made some sense, as their duties involved loading and unloading Army combat equipment on Navy ships. They were, as he said, “first on and last off.”
After military service, they returned to Milwaukee, and Chuck rejoined the staff of Fitzhugh Scott-Architect, where he had worked summers while a student. Scott was a developer of the Vail ski resort in Colorado. For one summer, Chuck built a 3-D display of the entire Gore Valley and the proposed Vail ski area. The model was installed along the interior wall of a VW van. A driver was hired to take the van to visit potential investors nationwide, while members of the firm flew in to pitch the ski resort as an attractive investment. During his time with the Scott firm, Chuck also worked on the design of several buildings at the resort.
In 1979 the Schmitts were living in a three-story house in Milwaukee. That winter, having bought the tallest ladder he could find, Chuck found himself climbing up three stories to chop ice off the leaking roof while Sally held the ladder steady. That experience helped them decide to move permanently to Florida, where Chuck headed the Fort Myers office for a Tampa firm. In 1982–83, Chuck created his own firm, Schmitt Design Associates. Over the years, the firm grew into Barany Schmitt Summers & Weaver. Today the firm is known as BSSW Architects, with offices in Fort Myers and Naples.
They have lived in Fort Myers and Bonita Springs and built a vacation house in Islamorada in the Keys. Owning a boat allowed them to enjoy fishing in the Florida Straits.
One notable vacation encounter was on a plane to St. Barts. Chuck fell into conversation with his seatmate, a wealthy Indiana man who owned land on the island. He engaged the Schmitts to design a villa and later to house-sit on occasion. “We never could have afforded to rent in such a spectacular location,” said Chuck.
Sally and Chuck have traveled extensively through Europe and the Caribbean. They have two daughters and one son, one daughter living in Massachusetts, one in Tampa, Florida, and the son in Oregon. They have taken seven of their eight grandchildren each on trips when old enough to select and enjoy the destinations.
One last excursion remains. The trips included visits to Sulzthal, Bavaria, the hometown of Chuck’s father, so that the children could meet their German cousins. Two grandsons enjoyed fishing and diving in the Bahamas.
Chuck’s father had moved to the U.S. from Germany in 1924. His intention to leave was reinforced one summer as the senior Schmitt was working to turn a carousel by leading a real horse around and around underneath the wooden horses. One season in the cellar with the horse was “enough.”
In the U.S. he became a lath and plaster contractor, and when the young Chuck declared no interest in college, put him to work as a laborer, doing the nastiest construction jobs available. When Chuck observed the engineers and architects coming to the work sites in nice clothes and “cool hard hats,” he decided “that was for me,” and changed his mind about college.
The decision to move to Cypress Cove in January 2021 came after the Schmitts considered several communities. They liked the lifestyle and medical services at Cypress Cove. They both participate in a number of the activities here. Sally is secretary of the library committee, serves on the dining committee and works in the Market and with Caps for Kids.
Chuck spends time on projects in the wood shop and serves on the facilities committee and as a guide at the Revs Institute auto museum in Naples. An especially important volunteer activity for him is with Freedom Waters Foundation, a non-profit group that provides therapeutic experiences for children, disabled adults, and military veterans, for whom Chuck’s fishing club offers recreational boat rides and fishing trips.
Sally has pursued her own set of careers: teaching elementary classes, keeping the books for Schmitt Design Associates until it grew too large to do except full time, and then becoming a travel agent. She still books the travel for them and their family. She also enjoys cooking, and to keep her hand in, she prepares a dinner on Saturday evenings for the two.
If you walk by their apartment, you will see an ever-changing view of hand-crafted ceramic fish on display, part of a large collection given to them by family and friends to celebrate enjoyment of their Islamorada house, known as the “fish house.”