Lester C. Schultz

When people talked to Lester C. Schultz ­­— even when meeting him for the first time — they felt like they had known him for years.

“He never met anybody who was a stranger,” his daughter Lois said.

Mr. Schultz, 89, of Cedar Grove, died Friday, April 20, at Sharon S. Richardson Community Hospice in Sheboygan Falls, one week after his wife Carol died. The two had been married for 60 years.

They made a good team, their daughter said.

“My mom was the silent partner,” she said. “My dad was not.”

Besides his friendly, talkative nature — Mr. Schultz would talk to anybody — he would do anything for anybody, his daughter said, which applied to his woodworking hobby.

“There wasn’t anything that he couldn’t accomplish,” his daughter said. “He enjoyed the craft, and he enjoyed the good challenge of it.”

Mr. Schultz, who at one point worked for Harnischfeger Corp., bought a prefabricated home kit and put up the family house. He later added another family room, his daughter said, and built the bay window for the home.

He made smaller items as well, such as frames, snack trays and tables that either stayed in the house or were given to family and friends. Some creations would be retrofitted.

“Mom’s sewing table wasn’t big enough so he added a big piece onto that,” his daughter said.

Mr. Schultz enjoyed deer, grouse and pheasant hunting, and fishing for northern pike on Town Corner Lake near the family’s cabin that he built in Pembine and on a small body of water in Saukville.

He passed down his skills of firing a gun and catching and cleaning fish, and how to use power tools.

“He was the outdoorsman who taught you how to do it and respect nature,” his daughter said. “If you’re going to catch it, you’re going to clean it.”

Mr. Schultz also bowled in leagues at the Belgium Community Center and golfed in leagues in the area.

He and his wife also acquired the skill of wine making.

“They gave more of it away than they kept,” his daughter said.

Mr. Schultz spent most of his career working as a pattern supervisor for Medalist State Foundry — now Willman Industries — in Cedar Grove.

He was born on Dec. 28, 1928, in Saukville to Herbert and Mamie Meyer Schultz.

He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War from 1951 through 1953.

On June 29, 1957, he married Carol Mae Gerner at United Church of Christ in Saukville.

He was a member of the First Reformed Church in Cedar Grove.

Mr. Schultz is survived by his children Lorna (Steve) Winoske of Houston, Lois (partner Joe Dunn) Schultz of Neenah and Bryan (Terri) of Jericho, Vt.; grandchildren Kevin (Christine) Winoske, Hannah

(fiancé Torsten Quinlan) Schultz and Derrek Schultz; one great-grandson; brothers Donald Schultz of West Bend and Earl (Helen) Schultz of Grass Valley, Calif.; brother-in-law Roger Geib of Port Washington; and sister-in-law, Janet Badtke of Niles, Mich.

He was preceded in death by his wife Carol; sisters, Mildred Wagner, Charlotte Esselmann and Audrey Geib; and brother Harold Schultz.

A funeral was held at First Reformed Church in Cedar Grove on Monday, April 23. The Rev. Chris Schaefer officiated.

Burial was in Cedar Grove Cemetery.

Memorials to the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight and the Camo Quily Project are encouraged.

Wenig Funeral Home of Oostburg handled arrangements.