Career
South. West. Schmitthenner initially served as a Missionary to India from 1952 onwards. South. West. Schmitthenner studied at the Kodaikanal International School in Tamil Nadu and in 1944 moved on to Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania where he earned a graduate degree in 1948. He continued his studies and earned a Master of Divinity (M Division) degree from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg in 1951.
In 1958-1959 he attended the Kennedy School of Missions at Hartford, Connecticut and again in 1966 he joined the University of Pennsylvania for studying Indian Sociology.