Tristan Jade Schmitz was born February 28, 1997 in Winner, South Dakota to Dwayne Donald and Angela Marie (Gill) Schmitz and died Sunday August 16, 2009 near Tea South Dakota, at the age of 12. He was baptized at Immaculate Conception Catholic church in Bonesteel, South Dakota on February 28, 1999. His godparents were his aunt and uncle Brian and Leslie Gill.
Tristan (TJ) attended kindergarten and first grade in Mitchell, SD before moving to Brookings, SD where he was currently living with his mother and his brother Curtis. He had just finished 6th grade at Mickelson Middle School in Brookings, SD where he was awarded the Presidential Academic Award.
Every year Tristan participated in a cancer walk where he made luminaries in memory of his grandma and grandpa Schmitz.
In Tristans free time, he really enjoyed being with his brother, Curtis, who was also his best friend. He also enjoyed skateboarding, playing his game boy and play station with his cousin Dean, playing games on the computer, singing in chorus, and texting his family and friends. Tristan was very outgoing and made friends easily. He would do anything for anyone at anytime. He always liked looking at muscle cars, especially a 67 Ford Mustang GT. One of Tristans special talents was playing the guitar. He especially liked to play 2 songs: Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple and Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne.
He very much enjoyed spending time in Bonesteel with his dad and his extended family. As a family some of the things they did together were camping, boating, tubing, and swimming. You could also find Tristan farming and doing cattle work with his uncles. He especially liked driving the 4-wheeler and dirt bike.
Tristans mother Angie brought into his life a special friend Todd Eslick, who introduced him to aeronautics, which inspired Tristan to enroll in the Civil Air Patrol. Tristan had flown with Todd on several occasions and really enjoyed flying with him. His loved ones are truly grateful that Tristan was able to spend his last moments with Todd doing something he truly loved.
Tristan was preceded in death by his great-grandparents Tony and Helen (Horst) Schmitz , William and Katherine (Sondgeroth) Hausmann, Gardner Gill, and Ewald and Dorothy Moehnert ; grandparents Donald and Ellen (Hausmann) Schmitz and Toney and Ellen (Moehnert) Gill; uncle Brad Gill; and his special friend Todd Eslick.
Tristan is survived by his father Dwayne and wife Melissa Schmitz of Bonesteel, SD; mother Angela Schmitz of Brookings, SD; brother Curtis Schmitz of Brookings, SD; sister Angelica Schmitz of Hartford, SD; sister Ashli and Joe OKane of Hartford, SD; nephew Landon OKane of Hartford, SD; step-brothers Wade and Stephen Farland of Parker, SD; great-grandmother Jennie Gill of Atkinson, NE; aunts and uncles Greg and Gene Schmitz of Bonesteel , SD; Lee Schmitz of Sioux Falls, SD; Jay and Shelly Schmitz ( Dalton, Tony and Collin) of Bonesteel, SD; Michele and Chad Bentz( Jacob and Debbie) of Bonesteel, SD; Lynne and Kevin Bentz (Dean, Tess, Willie) of Fairfax, SD; Brian Gill (Kaylee) of Lincoln, NE; LeAnn and Richard Brewster (Ricky and Carson) of Oklahoma; April Flores (Isiah, Cambry, and Haley) of Guymon, OK; Lori and Ryan Bigge (Landon) of Mitchell, SD; and a host of other relatives and friends.

Funeral services will be held on Thursday, August 20, 2009 at 10:30 AM at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Bonesteel. Burial will be in the St. Marys Catholic Cemetery, Bonesteel. There will be a rosary on Wednesday evening at 7:00 PM at the church. Visitation will be one hour prior to both services at the church.