Danny Schultz

Danny Ray Schultz of Grandview, WA, surrounded by love, began his peaceful journey to Heaven on December 7th, 2025, after a long and fierce battle with congestive heart failure and diabetes. He was born on December 9th, 1945 in Tacoma, WA at Tacoma General Hospital. From there he was adopted on December 25th by Emeron and Elmer Schultz and lived in Washington state. When Emeron and Elmer went their separate ways, young Danny moved with his mother to southern California where he was raised at 5 years old by his stepdad Ray Fenley. With Ray by his side, Danny learned about shooting, catching critters, and collecting rocks, arrowheads and volcanic glass in the deserts of California, Nevada and Arizona.

Danny graduated from Sherman E. Burroughs High School in Ridgecrest, California in June of 1965. During his high school years, he would play the tuba in the marching band and also enjoyed surfing the waves and playing bass guitar in a local surf band. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1966 to serve as a combat medic and operating room medical corpsman in Vietnam. There he earned several medals including the National service medal, the Vietnam service medal, two overseas bars, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign medal with device as an expert M-16 sharp shooter. It was during his military service that he met Janet Cooper, who was also serving in the army in 1969. They were married that same year and on February 22nd, 1970 welcomed their daughter Renee Schultz. He was honorably discharged from the military in 1972, and moved from Nevada to Washington state in 1975. In 1980, Danny met Nora Palomarez in Sunnyside, WA. They were married in May of 1981 and over their 20 year marriage welcomed children Teresa (1985), Daniel (1987) and Selena (1994). They eventually settled in Grandview, WA.

Danny enjoyed working as an EMT with Prosser Memorial Hospital for many years, often driving the ambulance for the community. He would take the ambulance to the local schools and let the students climb in and out to see how they worked. Being a volunteer firefighter in Grandview and Prosser, he could also be seen driving in the local parades, blaring the sirens and tossing candy. Danny was also an active member of the VFW in both Grandview and Sunnyside and would march with the color guard and participate in many veteran services. Every Christmas, he would dress up as Santa Claus and take photos with the community children while handing out gifts and meals to the less fortunate. He truly enjoyed the stories he would be told and playing the part of Santa for the kids, as he himself was a very happy, jolly man. He even did a short stint at clown college, which was fitting as he was one of the funniest men and so full of life.

Danny enjoyed hanging out at the community center in town, watching loud TV and blaring really loud Woodstock-era music, and having fun with his kids by taking them to drag races, balloon rallies, Woodland Park Zoo, and stunt kite festivals. He had a wide variety of interests including Tejano dancing, old cars and singing karaoke. He could be found on Tuesday nights at the VFW singing "Hey Baby, Que Paso" and drinking a Pepsi with his large group of friends. He was the type of man who made friends everywhere he went and always had a joke or story to tell. When he was transferred to Richland Life Care Center, he continued his tradition of being a social butterfly and was elected the President of the Residents and Prom King, twice!

Danny was able to touch the lives of so many people in the community he served. He has countless friends from all walks of life and many people who cared for him dearly...other veterans, nurses, residents, neighbors, family and so on. He was truly loved and will be whole-heartedly missed because of the impact he has made on every person he encountered. There are not enough words to explain just how special of a guy he was, especially to his children, always offering a listening ear, open arms, and unconditional love. He was always happy to see you, always willing to make you laugh, and a genuinely kind and generous character.

Danny is survived by his three children Renee (Robert) Cochran, Teresa (Fe) Ibarra, Daniel Schultz and Selena Schultz. He is also survived by his grandchildren Amanda Schmidt, Joshua, Mia, David Schultz and Axel Peters, and one great grandson, Noah. He is preceded in death by his adopted father, Elmer Schultz, stepfather Ray Fenley, adopted mother Emeron Fenley, and former companion Sandra Peters.