Henry George Schultz Jr.

Henry "Junior" Schultz, Jr., 96, of Collinsville, IL, born on March 3, 1929, in Pulaski County, IL passed away on Friday, November 28, 2025, at Eden Village Retirement Center, Glen Carbon, IL with his daughter by his side.

Junior was a man of tireless work, a passionate story teller and enjoyed the simple things in life. Sitting on his front porch "watching the world go by" was one of his past-times.

He dedicated over 40 years of his life as a checker at the National Stockyards in National City, IL, a job he truly loved. He supplemented that income by picking up used tires, sometimes driving all the way to Kentucky and back in one day, to sell them to a recap company before returning to the stockyards at night. Sleep was a luxury he rarely took. He knew the meaning of hard work and lived a life defined by it.

Junior loved the outdoors. He enjoyed rabbit hunting and always looked forward to catfishing at his favorite spots on the Mississippi River, the Big Muddy River and Grand Tower. He was always happy to then invite friends and family to a fish fry and, anyone would say, he fried the best fish. Each summer you could find him in his vegetable garden picking weeds, checking his tomatoes and green beans. His harvest was plentiful. "When they come in, they come in all at once." He enjoyed telling endless stories, especially about "the old days". He never met a stranger and they would quickly hear tales of him being a cowboy and once riding a horse for 18 hours straight, though his real cowboy roots could be found growing up on a farm where he and his brothers left school to help out – just the way it was back then. Family stories and memories of his grandparents, arriving for him in their covered wagon, was one of his favorites. And he continued to have an old picture of him in his late teens with his horse, name Trigger, in a frame on his dresser.

His life was full of conversation, laughter and the simple things in life he enjoyed. He will be remembered for his relentless work ethic, his colorful stories and his big heart.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Henry G. Schultz, Sr. and Ollie Schultz (nee Stoner); beloved wife, Janet Schultz (nee Ferder); son, Thomas Schultz; three sisters, Margie Vardell, Beulah Marrs, Martha Brown; six brothers, Owen Schultz, Perry Schultz, Lenous Schultz, Donald Schultz, Bobby Schultz, and an infant brother.

He is survived by his two children, Gary Schultz of Carlyle, IL and Christine Brennan of Collinsville, IL; seven grandchildren, Amy Brown, Ashley Fitzler, Jason Schultz, Kelly Beatty, Brett Cannon, Sean Brennan, Ella Brennan; great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be made in Henry's honor to the Alzheimer's Foundation, https://alzfdn.org/. Condolences may be extended to the family online at www.schildknechtfh.com.

Services will be held privately.

Burial will follow at Resurrection Cemetery; 6901 MacKenzie Road, St. Louis, MO 63123.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Schildknecht Funeral Home, O'Fallon, IL.