Portia Peters Schmidt of Berkeley Springs, WV passed away on June 26, 2022. She was
surrounded by her children.
Portia was a Texan and would proudly proclaim it no matter where she was living at the
time- whether it be Leesburg, VA, Beckley, WV, or lastly, Berkeley Springs, WV. She was born
in Corpus Cristi, TX on January 30, 1950 to Edward and Carol (Acton) Peters. She told many
stories about growing up there: shooting rattlesnakes, riding barrel races in rodeos, how Dale
Evans, the greatest cowgirl, was her idol. Portia spent years living in the Austin, TX area with
her brother Frank (deceased 2010, married to Beth), sister Nancy (married to Bill Wilcox), and
her cousin-but-close-as-a-sister, Angela (Acton) Angelo. There are many stories from that time;
most involve great music, beer, and other things- “Remember, it was the 60’s.”
Portia had 4 children: Jacob (married to Stacey), Jessica (deceased 2018, engaged to
Steve Gibson), Jonathan (married to Amanda) and Jennifer Adams (married to Jason). Yes, that’s
a lot of “J” names. Whenever she was exasperated with her boys she would yell “John, Jacob,
Jingleheimer Schmidt!” Friends of the older 2 children might not have known that the younger 2
had actual names, as they were mostly referred to as “The Twins.” Her kids grew up and
provided her with 4 grandkids to spoil: Olivia, Austin, Emmet, and Erik.
If you knew Portia then you knew how much she loved talking to people. She made
friends out of strangers wherever she went. When her kids were younger, her house was the
place where all of their friends were welcome. There was a constant stream of teenagers and
young people – all welcomed and accepted as they were. She delighted in spending time with
them and if you were there, then you were treated as family. Portia loved her dogs. They were
loud, yappy and not well trained, but they provided hours of entertainment for her and she doted
on them to no end. She also enjoyed collecting mermaids, including the one she got as a tattoo
for herself on her 45th birthday. Her favorite color was purple and in her last months she really
enjoyed the (imaginary) purple kittens that kept her company.
Portia was aware that the end was near and some of the things she was experiencing were
hallucinations. But, in true 60’s style, she had a great time on all the adventures! She met her end
with acceptance and the last few things she said were “I’m so proud of them” (about her grown
kids) and “This is really weird. It’s so damn weird.” And smiled.
For the past 25 years Portia said that she wanted to be put on an ice floe and pushed out
to sea at the end. Unfortunately it was summer, and no ice floes could be found. So, instead she
requested to be cremated. At this point there are no services arranged – just the vague beginnings
of a plan for a summer cookout with friends and family in her memory.
If you’d like to honor her, don’t send flowers, instead listen to some Willie Nelson or Johnny Cash, dye your hair purple, wear some cowboy boots, or say something unexpected and irreverent to shock someone.
If none of those are your style- there are still 2 small untrained dogs you could adopt!