Stephen Edward Schultz

Steven Edward Schultz, 75, of Healdsburg, California, passed away at home on his terms, August 14, 2023 with family by his side. Steve was born the only child of Helen Gertrude Hutton and Roger William Schultz of Oakland on March 20, 1948. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UC Berkeley in 1970, and then with a Master's degree from Stanford in 1975, which jump-started a successful career as a multi-talented electrical engineer for Hewlett Packard and other companies. Steve moved to his permanent home in Healdsburg in 1978 and welcomed a son and daughter with his first wife Christine (nee Packard), and after remarriage to Ruth Olson, another daughter. After retiring from corporate life in 1993, Steve and Ruth formed The Olson Schultz Group and he fell into a second career as a licensed general contractor, handy-man, and systems consultant. A literal jack-of-all-trades, Steve would take on ambitious home improvement projects at the request of friends and family and could fix most anything with a nail gun and assorted power tools, only occasionally requiring bandages. In 1996, Steve followed his lifelong dream and bought a sailboat with the vision of cruising to warmer shores in the fashion of Jimmy Buffet. From then on Steve spent several months a year sailing with family and friends, from San Francisco south to Mexico and then throughout the Caribbean, the Florida Keys, the Bahamas and Cuba. Eventually, Steve escaped to Florida every winter to ensure he could continue wearing shorts year-round. It is rumored that there was no berth nor harbor that he couldn't squeeze his boat into. Steve's life changed dramatically in January 2003 when he suffered a serious stroke while in the Caribbean that nearly ended his life. In the 20 years that followed, though the effects of the stroke left him as a man of few choice words, his personal accomplishments were numerous. Steve learned to define himself by things he could do – not the things he could no longer do. Steve is survived by his wife and companion of 37 years Ruth Olson, his children Kathryn (Andy) Dippel of Alameda, CA, Dale (Robbie) Jackson of Fort Collins, CO, Garth Schultz (Megan Jennings) and his grandsons Henry and Emmett Schultz, of Albany, CA. Steve's family and friends will be celebrating his life privately on August 26, 2023.

Published in Healdsburg Tribune · August 22, 2023