Seventeen years ago, Bill went for a routine check-up with cardiologist Michael Chen, MD. A week later, Dr. Chen inserted a stent into Bill’s heart to remove arterial blockage. To ensure his recovery, Dr. Chen prescribed Bill a six-week cardiac rehabilitation program at the Center for Fitness & Health. However, Bill’s relationship with the center continued for decades.
On April 6, 2025, Bill died at age 93. A few weeks later, his wife, Dottie Schmidt, delivered one of his paintings to the Center with a note expressing gratitude for Bill’s care. “He not only looked forward to the exercises but also to chatting with the staff whom he liked and respected immensely. For him, rehab was necessary work yet fun,” she wrote.
About halfway through his life, Bill left engineering and became a full-time painter, turning a passionate hobby into his profession. He specialized in plein air painting, creating his art outdoors from the perspectives around him. Regardless of the weather or season, Bill would set up his easel, always wearing his signature bucket hat.
Care Supports Creativity
While he enjoyed traveling to paint in places like Maine, Massachusetts and Bermuda, he loved painting in Maryland. The artwork Dottie gifted to the hospital, “Bay View,” depicts a peaceful harbor in Deale, Md.
Dottie explained that with cardiac rehab treatments, Bill could maintain his artistry. He would go to the Center twice a week for two-hour sessions. “He could’ve gotten to a gym, but he didn’t want to do that. He liked being there, with the medical professionals. And he developed rapport with the people. They all knew him, and it was very nice,” Dottie said.
Bill touched the hearts of many hospital team members throughout his visits. Susan McCoy remembers Bill greeting her as “Buttercup” when he checked in at the front desk. Ilene McDonough, RN, admired his commitment to exercise: on steppers, bikes, and resistance machines. His bucket hat became a familiar sight, and his tenacity inspired other patients.
Along with his Center for Fitness & Health workouts, Bill took balance classes at Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation in Rockville. Dottie believes rehabilitation extended his life. When Bill could no longer exercise, his caregivers called “just to see how he was doing, because he had been coming for so long. They missed him,” Dottie explained.
Last fall, with Dottie and his children present, the Center unveiled Bill’s painting in its lobby.
“To me it was a way of saying thank you to the people who had taken such good care of him,” Dottie said. “And also, to let his memory live on.”
