James “Jimmy” Charles Schmoke

Jimmy Schmoke, 35, of Hewitt, passed away Wednesday, June 29th.

Memorial Service: Saturday, July 9th at 3:00PM at the Baylor Research and Innovative Collaborative (BRIC) with Reception to follow. For driving instructions, click here. Floral deliveries will be accepted on Friday, July 8th from 8AM to 5PM at THE BRICK, located at 100 Research Parkway, Waco, TX 76704 – deliver through the front entrance and ask for Jill Combs.

Honorary Pall Bearers are Jeremy Gonzales, Michael Holmes, Truell Hyde, Mike Cook, and Jorge Carmona-Reyes.

James “Jimmy” Charles Schmoke was born in Waco, Texas on July 14, 1980. He attended Midway High School, matriculating to Texas State Technical College where he received an Associate of Applied Science in Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology in 2001. Jimmy was awarded a paid internship at Baylor University’s Center for Astrophysics, Space Physics & Engineering Research (CASPER), and upon its completion he was hired full-time as a Research Technician for CASPER’s experimental lab in the Baylor Research & Innovation Collaborative (BRIC). During Jimmy’s 15-years at CASPER, he provided the technical backbone for CASPER’s evolution into an internationally recognized research group, with research partnerships in Hungary, Moscow, and Germany.

CASPER provided more than a career path for Jimmy; as part of a US Department of Education Gear Up grant funded in the late 1990’s, he worked with fellow-technician Mike Cook and many others to design and build exhibits and interactive hands-on training devices for the Physics Circus, an outreach effort aimed at exposing K-12 students to science and engineering. Part of the Physics Circus was a highly interactive show, which during 2005 featured a young Baylor actress named Margaret Holmes playing the character of “Tiny Tina.” To the delight of the CASPER family, Jimmy and Margaret were married in 2007.

Dr. Truell Hyde, CASPER’s director and the Vice Provost for Research at Baylor, describes Jimmy as a highly intuitive electronics technician, one who made much of CASPER’s work possible, most especially in the experimental lab: “Irreplaceable, as a friend and colleague. Absolutely irreplaceable.”

Jimmy is survived by Margaret, his wife of 9 years; his father and step-mother, Jim and Alice Schmoke of Florida; his brother and sister-in-law, Andrew and Caitlyn Schmoke of Waco; and Starr and Devin Brothers, his step-sister and her husband, and their two children, of Fort Worth; and numerous extended family. He was preceded in death by his mother, Judy Schmoke, of Waco. He will be sorely missed.