James Thomas Schulte

1923 - 2017

May 18, 1923 - April 21, 2017
Jay Schulte slid into home after 93 innings in a very, very good game of life on April 21, 2017.

He was born in New Orleans on May 18, 1923 to Henry and Emma Schulte, the 4th of 8 children. Jay spent his childhood participating in any sort of competition he could find. He was a rower from the age of 6. He got practice for races by rowing into Lake Ponchetrain to dig for clams and catch shrimp and crabs in nets that he knitted. Time on the lake was great sport, but also gave Jay a way to help feed his family and buy material for his sister to make school clothes for Jay and his younger siblings. He spent every minute he could playing football or baseball on the green, learning lessons about leadership and team work from the other kids. He also participated in the "sport" of stealing watermelons off of barges as a teenager, a dangerous pastime involving swimming to the barge, sneaking onto it, pushing melons into the water, then swimming them to shore. He had some near misses while participating in that sport!
Jay's athletic skills earned him a scholarship to Jesuit High School, where he lettered in football, track, basketball and baseball. He had a brief stint in minor league baseball, playing for the St. Louis Browns in the East Texas League, but that ended quickly when he slid into 2nd base and suffered a life-threatening head injury.

Jay liked to say that his sports injuries probably saved his life. His was declared 4F in the WWII draft because of his bad knees, so served the war effort making rifle scopes instead of on the battlefield.

Jay married his first partner in life, Bettie Mae (Tillie) Schattenberg when he was 18. They moved to San Antonio soon after and began to build a life in Texas. Over the next 18 years, they had five kiddos; Carole, Barbara, Susie, Janet and Jayne. To care for those children, Jay had more than 20 different jobs, including selling lady's shoes at Frost Bros and traveling West and South Texas as a paint brush salesman before finding his life's work in 1958. He became a distributor for Airkem, an innovative new line of disinfectant and odor control products. With Tillie to help customers and do the books, Jay spent his days in institutions selling the products and many a night responding to calls to begin the smoke odor removal process after a fire. He and Tillie operated the business from their home, so both were around for their girls more than most parents.

Jay's love of sports lead him to serve as Athletic Director, coach and to play church league sports for many years at Alamo Heights Presbyterian Church. Jay and Tillie were also leaders for the AH Presbyterian Pioneers youth group, chaperoning many a youth retreat at Mo Ranch and getting to know their girls' friends. Jay also served the church as a Deacon.

He was proud to have been a Rotarian for 56 years and was recently named a Lifetime Rotarian. Jay also enjoyed the fellowship of the Monday Morning Quarterback Club.

Jay and Tillie raised their five girls and got all of them through college, which was one of the things that made him most proud. Jay spent the last year of his 36-year marriage to Tillie caring for her as she battled breast cancer.

Jay was twice blessed in marriage, spending the final 36 years of his life with Barbara Scott Shobe. Jay met Barbara at Alamo Heights Presbyterian Church and decided he had to marry her after learning that Barbara's mom was an expert lemon meringue pie maker. Barbara was always ready for an adventure in the country, whether it involved a hair raising 8 hour drive to Bullis Gap on the Rio Grande, hunting deer in the Hill Country or watching hogs, birds and other wildlife at Asherton from one of Jay's deer blinds with padded benches long enough for him to nap on. They had some great travels together, including trips to the Canadian Rockies and Alaska, and an 80th birthday trip to complete Jay's travels to all 50 states. Barbara joined him in delivering for Meals on Wheels during many a lunch hour.

Jay was crazy about his great-grandchildren, who were truly the brightest spot in the last few years of his life.

Jay has joined his parents, Henry Schulte and Emma Clark, wife Bettie Mae (Tillie), 3 brothers, 3 sisters and countless other family and friends in heaven. He is survived by his devoted wife, Barbara; sister, Doll Riley; sister-in-law, Grace Schulte; children, Carole Tillotson , Barbara Small, Susie Cranford (Dick), Janet Funari (Len), Jayne Crawford (Jay), Susie Newton (Bill), Bryan Shobe; grandchildren, Tom Tillotson, Ryan Small, Elizabeth Small Murrell, Nick and Charlie Funari, Mickey Crawford, Lindsay Newton Bolner, Lauren Newton Biegler, Samantha and Connor Shob e and 8 beautiful great-grandchildren.

We would like to thank all of the people who shared their skills and kindness caring for Jay in his final years, especially Mary, Perry, Della, Sylvia, Veronica, and Patrice. Our wish for him to be comfortable and at home could not have become reality without you. Thank you, Louisa for always making sure his hair was combed. And thank you to Dr. Scott Campbell and his staff for the house calls and patience during a difficult time.

A celebration of Jay's life will be held at the Alamo Heights Methodist Church Garden Chapel on Sunday, May 7 at 4:00pm.

Donations may be made to:
The Rotary Foundation
Alamo Heights Rotary Club
PO Box 6995
San Antonio, TX 78209

Meals on Wheels
4306 NW Loop 410
San Antonio, TX 78229
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