Published: June 07, 2008 11:26 pm         

Friends reminisce about ‘Fritz’

LIGONIER, Ind. — Described as quiet, polite and exceedingly humble, Fred “Fritz” Schultz was well-known in and around Ligonier, and his passing Thursday was marked by many.

“He was always a gentleman,” the Rev. John Lutton, a close, personal friend of Schultz, said. “He never raised his voice. He never spoke ill of anyone. He never swore, and he never drank or smoked. Plus, he was a very generous person.”

Lutton and Schultz became friends almost immediately after Lutton moved to Ligonier in 1973, largely due to their interest in radio and the fact that each were also HAM enthusiasts.

Schultz was then working with the Indiana State Police as a dispatcher and ran his own Zenith radio and television store, where he performed all repairs on everything he sold.

Schultz’s fascination with electronics and radio would eventually lead him down two paths that have left a lasting impact on Ligonier.

“I remember we took him to the Auburn Cord-Duesenberg Museum to see the cars. And at the time, the top floor was home to the Indiana State Historical Radio Museum,” Mike Schultz, Fred’s son, said. “As soon as he saw all the radios, he didn’t want to look at the cars anymore.”

The radio section was slated to be closed shortly after, so with help from his daughter Marcella and from Lutton, Schultz obtained all the equipment and opened the Ligonier Historical Radio Museum in 1993.

One day at the museum, when Glenn Longardner, current City Council member and former mayor of Ligonier, was working as a volunteer, a radio collector from Michigan came in. Schultz asked him how many radios he had, to which he responded “about 200.” He then asked the man if he went to any radio conventions. The man did, but Schultz knew of a closer one he had been missing out on, and gave him exact dates and information.

“That’s the kind of guy Fritz was. He was a square peg in a square hole,” Longardner said, adding that “Gosh, it was interesting working there!”

Years later and after monumental efforts by Marcella, Fritz’s WNRL-LP, a low-power radio station, went on the air. The community station, staffed by volunteers in the West Noble community, was donated by Schultz to West Noble High School shortly before his death.

“He thought the station could be of tremendous educational value,” Lutton said. “He knew no one else in the area had the time, knowledge or know-how to keep it alive and running.”

The transfer was announced at the last City Council meeting.

Lutton remembers Schultz as a dear friend and encouraging influence.

“His sense of humor was amazing,” he said. “Sometimes he could tell a joke totally deadpan that was extremely funny with no expression on his face at all. His whole family is like that. When they all get together it’s hilarious and very uplifting. There are very few people a minister can really relate to because it’s such a different world. Fritz and his daughter were two people I could really relax with, talk to and trust as good friends.”

“He’s really going to be missed,” Longardner said.