Frederick Henry Schultz

SCHULTZ Frederick Henry Schultz, son of Clifford G. Schultz and Mae W. Schultz, passed away peacefully on November 23rd surrounded by his loving family. He fought a long and courageous battle with metastatic prostate cancer for over six years. Fred was born January 16, 1929 in St. Vincent's Hospital. He graduated from the Bolles School (1946), the Lawrenceville School (1947) and Princeton University (1952). He also received an honorary doctorate from the University of North Florida (1989). Prior to his graduation from Princeton, he was married to the former Nancy Jane Reilly of New Orleans (August 11, 1951), who remained his constant companion and love of his life for nearly 60 years. In June of 1952 they were blessed with the first of their four children, Catherine. After a brief stint in the CIA, Fred served as an artillery officer in the Korean Conflict where he received a bronze star. While he was at war, his second child, Frederick, Jr. was born (1954). Upon his discharge from the Army, the family moved to Florida and Fred attended the University of Florida, College of Law, for two years. In 1955 Fred and Nancy and their growing family returned to Fred's hometown. He then joined the Barnett Bank Management Training Program where he met his best friend, former Congressman, Andy Ireland. Soon after finishing this program, he began to work with his father, former Greyhound Lines Chairman, Clifford Schultz. Unfortunately, he died shortly thereafter leaving Fred as the sole decision maker for the family. He then embarked on quite a remarkable business career, which included being a founder of Florida Wire and Cable, Platt Pontiac, Florida Trend Magazine and many other companies. Fred was a long time director of Barnett Banks, American Heritage Life, Southeast Atlantic Beverage, Transco Energy, Florida Steel and numerous others. He was also a Special Limited Partner of South Atlantic Venture Funds for over 25 years. In the field of public service, his record was truly amazing. He began as a board member of the Jacksonville Expressway Authority, now JTA (1961-1963). He was a member of the Florida House of Representatives (1963-1970) where he sponsored legislation to create the University of North Florida and Florida College at Jacksonville, formerly FCCJ. In 1969 and 1970 he served as Speaker of the House where he inaugurated many new processes and procedures. This led to him teaching a class at Harvard on State Government and becoming a Kennedy Fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics. After a failed run for the U.S. Senate in 1970, he was appointed by then Governor Rubin Askew to be Chairman of the Citizen's Committee on Education, a two year study on public and private education in Florida. Many of the over 100 recommendations were implemented by Governor Askew. This began an intense interest in improving public education that continued until his death. In 1976 he became Chairman of the Florida Council on Education. In 1977 he became a member of the National Council on Educational Research. In 1983 he was Chairman of the Florida Institute of Education. He was a member of the Advisory Committee at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University for over 17 years. He was also Chairman of the Workforce Development Board of the State of Florida from 1994 - 1997. Fred was a longtime trustee of the Bolles School, Episcopal Children's Services and the Alliance for World Class Education. All this culminated in the founding of the Schultz Center for Teaching & Leadership, a nationally renowned facility devoted to advanced training of teachers and principals. The center opened in 2002 and continues to be a great success. Fred truly earned his unofficial title of "Mr. Education" in Jacksonville. In 1976 Fred became Chairman of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce where he among other things, hosted the now famous, Amelia Island Conference. This led to the creation of both Leadership Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Community Council. Over a 45 year period he received numerous awards from the Chamber including the Junior Chamber's Outstanding Young Man in 1964, the Good Government Award in 1969 and the full Chamber's Distinguished Citizen's Award in 1996. He was also the first recipient of Leadership Jacksonville's Lifetime Achievement Award which is now known as the Frederick H. Schultz Lifetime Achievement Award. The pinnacle of Fred's career came in 1979 when he was appointed Vice Chairman of the Board of Governor's of the Federal Reserve System. This was after he declined to serve as the Secretary of Education. He considered his work with Paul Volcker at the Fed during the economic crisis of 1980-1981 to be the most interesting and important of his life. The Fed's crushing of inflation led to an unprecedented boom in the economy over the next 15 years. All these achievements and accolades aside, Fred would want to be remembered as a loving husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather and loyal friend. He will be greatly missed by all those who knew him. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Nancy Reilly Schultz, his four children, Catherine S. McFarland, (Doug), Frederick H. Schultz, Jr., (Carole), Clifford G. Schultz, II, John R. Schultz, (Kimberly). Eleven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Services will be held at St. Matthew's Catholic Church, 1773 Blanding Blvd. at 10:30am on Saturday, November 28th with Father Luke McLoughlin officiating. A private internment will follow at Oaklawn Cemetery. Active Pallbearers will be his sons and son-in-law. Honorary Pallbearers will be John Corse, Albert Ernest, Preston Haskell, Andy Ireland, Bill Madison, Steve Pajcic, Bob Shircliff, Lester Varn, Mike Williams and Jim Winston. Arrangements are under the care of Hardage Giddens Edgewood Chapel 729 S. Edgewood Avenue (388-2711). In lieu of Flowers, please send donations to the Schultz Center Foundation, 4019 Boulevard Center Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32207 or Community Hospice of NE Florida. Please Sign the Guestbook @ Jacksonville.com