Shultz, Harold Dale

Posted By: Dale Motschman
Date: 4 August 2003

The Shultz Family of Darke County, Ohio

The Biography of Harold Dale Shultz
Son of Sherman Harold Shultz and Myrtle Virginia Dalton
by Francis D. Motschman, Sr.

This story starts on Saturday, July 30, 1927. This is the day that Harold Dale Shultz picked for his birthday. His Mother, Myrtle had a used player piano which she could play like a pro. With Winter coming and Christmas gifts needing to be bought she applied to a Ten Cent Store in downtown Dayton and was hired to hawk sheet music in the back of the store. She had sheet music of all the popular songs for sale. If you wanted to hear the song, you asked her and she would play it for you. A lot of people would come to the back of the store just to hear her play. If you lived in Dayton back then, maybe you heard her play at some time.

As he changed from a baby to a young boy, it was obvious that this family he picked to join, didn't seem to fit him. As he grew up he liked playing baseball and he loved singing. He didn't like standing toe to toe and nose to nose in an arguement as his siblings were wont to do. Harold had a quick temper but it was never out of control. He always thought before he would leap.

"When Harold was 7 years old we were living on Burleigh Ave. in Dayton, Ohio. He and the rest of us were going to go somewhere with Mom and Dad. The kids were all ready and were on the front porch waiting for Mom and Dad to get ready. There was a long railing across the front porch and a long flower box on the railing. Harold was doing pull ups hanging on the planter. The planter overturned and Harold fell down with the heavy planter falling on top of him. About one third of his tongue was almost cut off... it was just hanging by a little bit of flesh. The doctor deadened his tongue and sewed it back together. For almost three years he talked with a lisp because of this."
Juanita V. Shultz Motschman -- Sister.

Everyone would marvel at him, when he talked he would lisp, when he sang there was no sign of a lisp in his pronunciation of words. He did well in school and he did like the girls although he was too young to think of dating. It was during this time of his growing up that his Dad, who always saw to it that the kids got a good beating for their wrong doings, began to show signs of being a lecturer. Harold would do something that he shouldn't have or didn't do something that he should have and Sherman would sit him down and start talking to him about his behaviour. Poor Harold, these talks would often last from one to two hours, and Harold would nod off and that caused the talk to be longer than ever.
Harold said that he would rather have had a beating. Harold always had lots of friends. It was at this time, when he was seven years old, that his Mother, died of a bad kidney condition. She had had one kidney removed and the other failed her, too. There were no thoughts of kidney transplants back in those days.

Harold ended up going to the Wernle Childrens Home in Richmond, Indiana, with his brothers and sisters. It was run by the Lutheran Church. Sometimes he had to do a lot of talking to stay out of trouble at Wernle but, he did, and managed to stay out of trouble while he was there.

In 1937, his father married again. The girl he married was very young, to be taking on the load of raising six children, but she did. Her name was Adelaide Brandt and she was from North Dayton. They were married on Thu., July 3, 1937 just a couple of weeks before Harold's tenth birthday. After the marriage they started bringing the children back home. They were all living on Bidleman St. in East Dayton when Harold first started to have feelings for girls.

"One other thing I would be amiss' not to mention, was the story he told me many, many times, about when he first met my Mother....

He was 16 and at a dance in Dayton, Ohio, with his best friend "Bubba" when the most beautiful redheaded woman he had ever seen walked through the door, she looked like an angel; he turned to his friend and said, 'That woman is going to be my wife',... truly love at first sight.... a mistake he would pay for, over and over again... but, I loved the story and would ask him again and again, 'Tell me how you met my mom', he always told it again".
-- Deborah Shultz Wendlandt, daughter.

Harold managed to meet that redhead, Lois Herheim, at the dance and they started to date. Being as she was from far away Wisconsin, I threw out the question, "How did Lois happen to be in Dayton, Ohio when she was 16?", and I got this:

"My mothers family came to Dayton, as her father found work cementing, (he made sidewalks and streets)" -- Deborah Shultz Wendlandt, daughter.

Harold and Lois went together for awhile and then when they were 17 and with some hard fought for agreement by both sets of parents, they got married. The year was 1944. They lived with his parents for awhile. When he got a job as a truck driver they got their own apartment on Fourth St., just a couple of blocks West of Downtown Dayton. This is where they were living when Douglas Shultz made his first appearance. That was on Mon., January 8, 1945.

There were two more births after that while they still lived in Dayton, Ohio. The first was Louie and his was a still birth in Abt. 1948. In what was probably Abt. 1950 another boy was born, Steven, but he lived only about 8 hours.

In Abt. 1951 they moved to Lois' home State of Wisconsin and to the City of Madison. Here another child was born, Deborah "Debbie" Shultz who married Ray Wendlendt some years later. It was here in Wisconsin that Douglas married his wife, Pam.

Debbie writes:

Dear Uncle Dale, How exciting it has been for me to read about my ancestors. I had no idea what a colorful family I came from..I have thought about this all day and two things keep comming to mind...first and foremost...
That my Father, Harold, was a Lover, not a Fighter.

My first memories are going to the movies with Dad and my Brother, Doug. Always Elvis movies, as Dad loved Elvis.. my Dad would walk through the lobby, singing to the ladies old and young.. to see the smiles on their faces. It would make me so proud that he was my Dad... He had a way with the women, from 2 years to 100, he could charm them all.. Dad always said that he was going to live till he was 99 and then be shot by a jealous husband. My Brother and I truly believed that.. The day he died as we were standing over his body I heard my brother whisper, "You lied dad", and I was thinking the same thing.... I loved his singing, when he sang in his deep strong voice you knew that song was for you only... dad avoided responsibilities and could not cope with sadness, I believe his big heart was too tender.. so, he looked at the world through those rose colored glasses..

If he could take all the hurt from this cruel world He would have...
Love, Debbie.

His son writes:

I remember how stubborn dad was..In the mid 60's dad came to Brodhead on a outing with my Mom's family. even though they were divoriced the family still loved my dad..Mom and her sister Arlene tried to teach dad to water ski...everytime he got up on the skis he would topple over...but he would not give up...over and over again he would crash into the water..you could see bruises starting to form all over his body...finally he made it for about 40 feet...but he ended up in the emergency room to treat all his bruises and scraps....it was OK with him because he finally got up on skis...to my knowledge he never attempted this again....but it taught us a lesson to keep on trying, never give up..
This is from Douglas Shultz, Harold's son.

Harold worked in many capacities in Madison. Lois and he did not find it possible to continue their marriage and they finally divorced in 1955. They remained friends after the divorce, even after she married a nice fellow who changed her last name to Subka.

Harold married again also, to Geraldine Bailey and had two children with her, Dawn Shultz in Abt. 1958 and Darlene Shultz Abt. 1961. It was after he married Geraldine that he embarked on the one job he loved more than any other, that was as a singing bartender. He loved doing it and the people loved to come and hear him. He made more friends doing this than at any other time of his life.

Lois had a stroke that crippled her for a long time and then she died Sun., December 31, 1989.

Harold had a problem where his body produced more blood than it should have and this caused his death on Sun., November 26, 2000. My wife, Juanita, her brother Gerald and I went to Wisconsin for the funeral. I was dumfounded at the amount of people in attendance for the service and going to the Cemetery for the burial. We were up front in the procession and on winding roads you could look back and not once could I ever see the end of the procession. It must have been about a mile in length.

His grieving granddaughter, Holly, daughter of Darlene wrote this poem in his honor:

Grandpa...
You were always one to make someone laugh,
you always had a smile on your face. You loved
us all just the same... but now, we're all in pain,
because now, you're not here to make us laugh
and make us feel good about ourself.
You're not here to crack a joke or give us hugs
or sing us a song.
Now you've left the earth without
saying 'Good Bye' and we're
going to miss you so much,
Grandpa.
We wish you hadn't died, but if
you're not here with us, we're
glad you're up there with God
because He'll take care of you.
We all love you very much and
will miss you a bunch, but we
have our memories of you,
Grandpa... I guess that will have
to do... If we can't have you.
Remember to save us a spot
so we can be with you.
We love you, Grandpa and
we will miss you a lot.
You will always be in our hearts.

-- Holly Anderson

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