Gerald Edward Schultz

Gerald Edward Schultz, 82, of Amarillo passed away Friday, August 23, 2019. Memorial services will be at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, September 14, 2019 at First Baptist Church Chapel. Burial will follow in Llano Cemetery. Gerry, the only child of Clara Shellhouse and Lionel Schultz, was born in Red Wing, Minnesota on September 2, 1936.  Gerry attended Red Wing High School and graduated in 1954. He continued his formal education for the next 10 years, earning a BS and MS in Geology from the University of Minnesota, and finally a PhD in Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology from the University of Michigan. In 1964 he moved with his wife Lorna to the Texas Panhandle to join the faculty of WTAMU. Dr. Schultz loved teaching and one of his great joys was reconnecting with the many former students he would encounter around town. He taught a diverse selection of courses including Paleontology, Oceanography, Mineralogy, Earth Science, and Human Origins, served as advisor to graduate geology students, and always looked forward to his annual student field trip to Mount Capulin in New Mexico. At his retirement in 2018 he was proud to hold the record for WTAMU’s longest tenure at 54 years. Dr. Schultz was also passionate about research. He took advantage of the Panhandle’s extensive ranch land to organize fossil digs and successfully discovered and pieced together skeletons of camels, three-toed horses, rhinos, saber-tooth cats, and mastodons. Many of these fossils can be seen on display at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon. He authored many scientific papers, was co-author of the book entitled “Ice Age Mammals of Northwestern Texas”, and was a member of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology and the Paleontological Society. In 1997 Dr. Schultz married his second wife, Joyce.  Together they were active with church and Sunday school activities at Paramount Terrace Christian Church, where they first met, and later at First Baptist Church. They enjoyed taking trips to see national parks, attend school reunions, and visit friends and family members across the country.  Dr. Schultz was a lover of the performing arts, attending concerts of the Amarillo Symphony and Harrington String Quartet and productions by Amarillo Opera and Amarillo Little Theatre. He traded his role as audience member for that of performer by singing with the Amarillo Civic and Amarillo Opera Choruses and participating in various square dancing, clogging, and Norwegian folk dancing groups.  He was an avid fan of old records and movies and over the years compiled comprehensive collections of opera and jazz recordings, serials, Westerns, and detective films. Gerald was preceded in death by his parents and wife, Joyce Merrick Shull Schultz. He is survived by three daughters, Katherine Schultz Hoyer and husband Scott of Portland, OR, Sally Shull West and husband Dale of Dallas, TX and Cindy Shull Smeltzer and husband Steven of Rancho Mission Viejo, CA; cousins, Glenn and Natalie Shellhouse of Colorado Springs, CO; sister-in-law, Betty Leavelle of Euless, TX; four grandchildren, Mark Smeltzer, Keren Smeltzer Broce and husband Jason,  Daniel Smeltzer and wife Jolene Tan and Bethany Smeltzer all of Orange County, CA and two great-grandchildren, Cambria Joy Broce and Judson Tan Smeltzer. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial contributions to The Amarillo Symphony Orchestra or The Panhandle Plains Historical Museum.