About Roy

Roy Schmidt
State Representative
76th District
2008 – present

Roy is in the midst of his second term as your State Representative. He is the minority Vice Chair of the Energy and Technology Committee. He also serves on the Insurance and Transportation Committees. In addition he serves on a handful of special assignment sub-committees. One is helping to investigate and recommend changes to the funding system for our State’s roads and bridges. Another is looking into education issues.

The transition in the House, Senate the Governor’s office has caused Roy and his fellow Democrats to make a lot of changes in how they work in Lansing. The Republican’s hold a decisive majority, but that hasn’t deterred Roy. Roy’s strength isn’t in his ability to make speeches or conceive history making legislation. Roy’s strength is in his ability to forge and maintain strong relationships with people from all sides of the aisle. Because of that Roy remains a go to guy for getting important legislation passed and helping get amendments considered and hopefully voted on. He has been rewarded by his appointments to sub-committees and his being asked by leadership to sponsor bills.

All of this makes Roy an effective legislator and representative of your interests in Lansing. Roy has continued his strong emphasis on constituent service, a dedication he has held since being elected as your City Commissioner in 1991. In his first term Roy was able to get legislation passed that helps our cities and schools. He was able to negotiate a deal to bring millions of dollars of historic tax credits to get the old Federal Building converted to the new Ferris State University downtown center and got an agreement to maintain funding for the new $40 Million Library at GVSU. He fought to maintain funding for colleges and universities as hard as he fought to maintain funding for pre-k and elementary programs. For Roy there is nothing more important than making sure kids get the education they need from the beginning of their lives through to adulthood.

A personal look at Roy

Roy is married to Donna (Prus) and the father of three sons, Eric (Kim), Ryan and Tyler. His special pride andjoy is his grandson Ryan Jr.(pictured at right). Roy has lived on the West Side of Grand Rapids his entire life. His family owned and operated a neighborhood grocery store on Bridge Street for many years. Roy and his five brothers and two sisters all worked at the store as kids, learning a work ethic that drives Roy even today. Roy attended Grand Rapids Community College then went on to receive his bachelors degree from Aquinas College. He become area customer service manager for a leading food supply business. He eventually went into pharmaceutical sales and rose to Territory Manager covering a large part of West Michigan.

Roy and Donna are extremely proud of their sons and their various accomplishments. Eric enlisted in the Air Force and served in the middle east during Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan). He returned to civilian life, got his bachelors degree in computer sciences from Grand Valley State University and is now in a management level position for a leading communications company. Ryan remained dedicated to his boxing and won numerous top level championships. He is finishing up his degree work at Northern Michigan University while caring for his son Ryan Jr. He is a personal trainer and works for the Amway Hotel group. Youngest son Tyler followed in his brother Eric’s foot steps. He graduated from the Air Force basic training this year as well as specialized training to become a flight crew member as an airborne radar technician.

Roy’s family is well known for their boxing achievements. Roy’s father and uncle were State Golden Gloves Champions and created a legacy that lasts today. Roy and his brother Rudy fought in the Gloves for years. Roy’s son Ryan has won numerous State and National boxing titles. Roy’s brother Pat is one of the sports best know officials and runs the Golden Gloves program in Grand Rapids. But it isn’t all about boxing. Hockey and baseball are big sports in the Schmidt household. Sons Eric, Ryan and Tyler all played Hockey. Eric and Tyler played on the powerhouse Catholic Central teams. Roy’s dedication to kids and the value of well supervised and taught athletics is evidenced by his establishment of the boxing training program at Martin Luther King gym in Martin Luther King Park. Roy helped create and now chairs the GR Box Foundation that supports that gym and has over seen the expansion of the services provided to include mentoring and leadership training as well as rigorous physical activities. The organization was recently awarded a National PAL Grant from the Police Athletic League. Building strong bodies and minds is the goal of GR Box, preparing young people to be contributing members of our society is the life’s work of everyone employed or volunteering at the MLK Gym.