Former Gatorade sports marketing chief Bill Schmidt was remembered Wednesday at a memorial service in Canonsburg, Pa., where he grew up about 20 miles from Pittsburgh. His ashes will be buried Thursday at the nearby National Cemetery of the Alleghenies.
Around 70 people were on hand to grieve Schmidt, an Olympic bronze medalist in the javelin who later helped turn Gatorade into a brand that was indelible across pro sports. Schmidt died last month at 78 after a brief illness.
The service included comments from his twin brother Bob to an audience of friends, family, local pols, National Athletic Trainers’ Association President A.J. Duffy and some of the other team trainers whose help Schmidt enlisted while growing Gatorade to a billion-dollar brand.
“Whomever you say were the masters of sports marketing, Bill Schmidt was one of very few,” former Gatorade marketer John Somsky said at the service.