Gale A. Schultz ‘Schultzy’

Gale A Schultz “Schultzy,” 77, passed away Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, at his home in Palouse. He was born Sept. 20, 1947, in Pelican Rapids, Minn., to Al and Carol Schultz. He and his brother Shelley enjoyed fishing and hunting in the summers at their grandparents’ home on a lake.

The family moved to Spokane Valley where they lived until he graduated high school. He attended Washington State University, but school was not his forte. He might skip classes, but enjoyed lectures by his favorite professors.

He married Elilzabeth Bell. They had an amicable split, and they continued to be friends. He enjoyed hunting and fishing in Idaho. He married Lezle Smiley and they had one son, Joshua. They divorced, and Charlotte helped Gale navigate the family court system. Thus, Josh came to visit Gale and Charlotte in Palouse in the summers and on school holidays. Gale and Josh particularly enjoyed fishing on the Snake River.

Gale worked for the U.S. Forest Service out of the Potlatch Ranger Station from 1974 to 2008. He mostly did scaling at various lumber yards in the area, but especially enjoyed working in the woods. In the spring he supervised tree planters, temporary legal workers from Mexico, whom he admired for their hard work. They knew he enjoyed morels so when they found them, they would put it on a stump and say “señor” and point to the stump.

Gale and Charlotte enjoyed mushrooming; morels in the spring, later boletes and in the fall, chanterelles. They annually went up to Priest Lake to find matsutake.

Gale is survived by his wife Charlotte Omoto of 35 years in Palouse; his son Josh in Meridian, Idaho; his brother Shelley and his family in Boise; and nephew David in Camas, Wash.

Gale was preceded in death by his parents Carol and Al Schultz.

No memorial service or funeral is planned. Kramer Funeral Home of Palouse is in charge of arrangements and condolences may be left at kramercares.com. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Medecins Sans Frontieres (donate.doctorswithoutborders.org), Southwest Indian Foundation (southwestindian.com/donate), or the Palouse Library, 120 E. Main St., Palouse, WA 99161. Three causes that he cared about.