The University of Michigan lost one of its most ardent fans Wednesday, March 4, 2015, when David Faulkner Schmidt, the mayor of Park Ridge, Illinois, died after a sudden illness at his home. He was 57.

Dave was, in fact, a sports fan of all teams Detroit: Lions and Tigers, Pistons and Red Wings.

Dave was a talented lawyer, a member of Chittenden, Murday & Novotny LLC, with more than 20 years of litigation, trial and appellate experience in courts in Illinois and elsewhere in the U.S. In 2011, 2012 and 2014, he was named a Leading Lawyer, an honor shared by only 5 percent of all lawyers in Illinois.

A staunch Republican, Dave launched his career in nonpartisan local politics as an alderman serving the 1st Ward on the Park Ridge City Council. He was elected Park Ridge mayor in 2009 and re-elected – handily – in 2013.

A graduate of New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, Illinois, Dave earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and political science from Iowa's Coe College in 1978. He received his law degree, cum laude, from Chicago's Loyola University School of Law in 1990, where he was second in his class. While in law school, Dave served as the president of the Student Bar Association.

He was active as a Cub Scout den leader, and he especially enjoyed coaching his son, Kevin, on their Little League Baseball teams.

Dave's sister Cathy Schmidt of Chicago recalled on Facebook how the road trips she and other relatives took with him "were always an adventure," in particular the two places "he loved most – Hawaii and Ann Arbor." He rarely missed a Wolverines home game. Besides travel, Dave enjoyed scuba diving, gardening, "sitting in the bleachers at Wrigley (or the box seats if the boss gave him the tickets, he often said) and tailgating at Michigan home football games.

In addition to his son and sister, Dave is survived by two other sisters, Beth (Gary) Taylor of Evanston, Illinois, and Karin Schmidt of Des Plaines, Illinois; a brother, Robert (Karyn Cihak) Schmidt of Des Plaines; his daughter-in-law, Mary Schneider Schmidt of Des Plaines; his granddaughter, Sophia Schmidt of Des Plaines; his longtime companion, Maria Cataldo of Park Ridge; his sister-in-law Hedda Hernandez Schmidt of Highland Park, Illinois; his nieces, Frances and Samantha Schmidt of Highland Park; and his stepmother, Kathleen Schmidt of Greenwood, South Carolina.

Dave was preceded in death by his parents, Dr. Harold W. Schmidt II, M.D., of Greenwood, South Carolina, and Dr. Ann Faulkner, Ph.D., of Chicago; and his youngest brother, Charles Schmidt of Highland Park.