By Amanda M. Wimmer
of The Northwestern
The void that will be felt in the Miss Wisconsin Pageant in the summer of 2007 will be too big not to notice.
John H. Schultz Jr., co-executive director of the pageant, died Saturday, leaving a hole in the annual scholarship competition. Schultz has been a part of the pageants since 1974 and became the co-executive director in 1988.
"People laugh about the pageant and they make fun of it, but we have always said we're a pageant family," said Mary Lou Lewis, who became good friends with Schultz during the years she spent on the board and working with pageants. "We might fight and squabble among ourselves but when someone is in need, we're all there."
Because of the closely-knit family that has been created over the years, Schultz is truly someone who is going to be missed. Even though Lewis said he liked to joke that the pageants would get in the way of golfing, the annual pageants, which came to Oshkosh in 1963, were a significant part of his life.
"I think from the very beginning it became a personal relationship with us," said Gordy Lund, co-chairman of the Miss Oshkosh Pageant. "I guess the only way to explain is that we are family."
Sue Captain, who worked parallel to Schultz as the other co-executive director, also described her relationship with Schultz as that of a family. She said she and her husband Lou always referred to him as a brother.
"We had been good friends for years," Captain said. "This was our 19th year doing Miss Wisconsin's together as co-directors."
Tracy Gest, 21, of Milwaukee was crowned Miss Wisconsin in June of 2005 and said she truly cherished the time she spent getting to know Schultz.
"You almost feel like you're adopted by him the year you're Miss Wisconsin," she said. "I'd come to Oshkosh to go to a meeting with him and it was like my home away from home."
Gest said Schultz always knew the right thing to say and she believes that women competing in the pageants from here on out will miss out on the support he gave.
"His timing was always good," Gest said. "He'd always tell me that everything was going to be OK at the exact right moment."
A funeral service will be held for Schultz Wednesday, beginning at noon at First English Lutheran Church, 1013 Minnesota St., with Rev. Timothy Gruenwald officiating. Family and friends are invited to gather from 9 a.m. until the time of service.
Amanda M. Wimmer: (920) 426-6632 or awimmer@thenorthwestern.com.
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