John Schultz

John Arthur Schultz, age 63, of Shawano, passed away on October 6, 2023, after a 17 year long battle with cancer and the treatment repercussions.  John was born on November 4, 1959, in West Bend, WI, son of Donald Schultz and Nancy Wedding Schultz Burns.  In his youth, he enjoyed the outdoors and camping.  He and his sibling were “rock hounds”, taking trips to the upper peninsula looking for stones and geodes.  John attended Neenah Highschool, later earning several degrees from Fox Valley Technical College focusing on computer support, website development and network specialties.  John was blessed to find his soul mate, Estelle Ostgard, when her mother told him to take Estelle dancing.  They shared 25 years together until his passing.

John had many jobs and many passions.  He owned a bicycle shop that fueled his need to ride semi-professionally. When he wasn’t riding, he would watch races on tv.  Due to his love of rocks and geodes, John made a name for himself as a digital cartographer with the mapping company American Digital Cartography.   He truly hit his stride when he entered the High-End Hifi audio world where he worked for Suess Electronics and Sound World.  He loved the playground of stereos, speakers, and amplifiers.  It was his happy place.  John eventually took a position at Kimberly-Clark in their I.T. department where he had access to their production computer system throughout the United States and worldwide. Most recently, he worked as a customer service representative at Time Warner Cable. 

Not a day went by that John wouldn’t fill his house with his eclectic taste in music.  He would blare tunes ranging from regional underground punk rock to the more popular artists like Johnny Cash, Jason Isbell and the Drive By Truckers.  Blues, Jazz, old rock, new rock, americana, underground, mainstream, John loved it all as long as it was loud.  And don’t you dare ask him to “turn it down”.

John will also be remembered for his love of High-End, micro brewed, and specialty beers, railroad museums, and watching movies.  He amassed an enormous DVD collection that was just as eclectic as his collection of music CD’s and vinyl.

John will be missed by his partner: Estelle Ostgard; his sister: Zoey Schultz (Bobbiejane Schmidt); his stepfather: Gary Burns; mother-in-law: Brigette Dauphinais; and father-in-law: Michael (Charlene) Ostgard.  He is further survived by many cousins, other relatives, and friends, as well as his loyal cats. He was preceded in death by his parents; and stepmother Vivian “Viv” Benyo.

A celebration of life will be held on Tuesday, October 24, 2023, at the Wichmann Funeral Home, 537 N Superior St, Appleton, from 3:00 pm until 6:00 pm with a sharing of memories at 4:00 pm. Condolences may be expressed at www.wichmannfuneralhomes.com