Delmar Dean Schulz

 
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September 15, 1924 – September 28, 2014

 

FREMONT — Delmar Dean Schulz, a World War II veteran who flew the B-17 bomber in Europe and returned to have a long career with a business forms and office systems company, died Sept. 28 at the Bethesda Care Center in Fremont. He was 90.

Mr. Schulz died of kidney failure after having lived in the nursing home for about a year, said his son, Marc.

Mr. Schulz worked 40 years for Moore Business Forms Inc., including Iowa City, Iowa, and Angola, Ind., and at the company’s headquarters in Glenview, Ill. He joined the company in 1948 after military service in the U.S. Army Air Corps, beginning as a press operator at the plant in Iowa City.

“He went and got a job while my mother went back to school,” Mr. Schulz said. “He worked his way up to supervisor and increasingly was given more responsibility there.”

He was transferred in 1962 to Angola, Ind. where he was assistant plant manager and again in 1964 to Fremont to plan and develop the site for the plant that opened the following year.

He remained as plant manager in Fremont for 13 years until he was promoted to eastern U.S. distribution manager and relocated to Glenview, Ill. He became U.S. distribution and warehousing manager until he retired in 1987.

Mr. Schulz was born Sept. 15, 1924, in Millersburg, Iowa, to George Elmer and Alice Schulz. He graduated in 1942 from Millersburg High School. He attended the University of Iowa and joined the Army Air Corps Reserves while studying aeronautical engineering.

He was called to active duty in January, 1943, and underwent training in Milwaukee, Texas, and Florida.

He was assigned to the 95th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force stationed in Horam, England. He completed 23 missions piloting as lead crew of the B-17 Flying Fortresses.

“By the time he was 20 years old, he was flying a B-17 over Germany dropping bombs,” his son said.

Mr. Schulz flew April 25, 2012, on an Honor Flight with other WWII veterans to Washington. Afterward, the younger Mr. Schulz said, his father always wore a ball cap with the Honor Flight or Air Force insignia.

Mr. Schulz married Beverly Anne McKinley on Aug. 1, 1945, in Iowa City. Their son said they met while he was home on leave.

After retirement, Mr. and Mrs. Schulz moved to Sun City Center, Fla., where they stayed 18 years. He volunteered in the retirement community’s security patrol. He was also a Rotary president.

They returned to Fremont in 2006 to be closer to their children and family.

While in Fremont, he was a member of City Council, the YMCA board of directors, Junior Achievement, the United Way board of directors, the Boy Scouts Council, and the Chamber of Commerce.

He worked with other business leaders to secure the land for Terra Community College. He was a member of the American Legion and the Fremont Rotary Club.

Mr. Schulz said his father lived the motto of the Rotary: service above self.

“He felt that if you lived in a community, then you should put something back into it. That is what he tried to do, and that is why he was active in so many organizations,” he said.

He held positions in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fremont and St. John the Devine, Sun City Center.

Surviving are his wife, Beverly; son, Marc; daughter, Barbara Kraker; four grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter.

Visitation will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, followed by a memorial service at 11 a.m.

The family suggests tributes to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Hospice of Promedica Memorial Hospital, or Fremont Rotary Club Strive Program.

Copyright, 2014, The Blade  (Toledo, OH) October 7, 2014

 
Janie McKnight