Peter Schultz, #831

March 22, 1939 – January 30, 2026
Active APA Member 2009-2025

Peter Schultz Obituary

Peter Schultz was born in Lübeck, Germany on March 22, 1939, the youngest child of Willi and Else Schultz. His oldest brother Jürgen is still living. His brother Klaus, sisters Erika and Almi, and his parents have died. His father was a master blacksmith on a big farm, maintaining the farm machinery and shoeing the huge Hanover work horses. Peter’s boyhood was an apprenticeship in smithing and farm work. He learned mechanical skills and how to fix almost anything — skills he used all his life.

His childhood overlapped with World War II. His family fared better than many. Living on a farm, they had enough to eat. His father was excused from the army since he was in an essential occupation, keeping regional farms going. His brothers were almost old enough to be drafted when the war ended.

Peter was in high school when his mother remarked that at his age his older siblings were already earning a living. Herr Walter, his high school calligraphy teacher, told him that if he had to drop out of school, he should become a printer. Peter apprenticed at Schmitt-Römhild, a printery founded in 1579. He won an all-Germany competition for first year typesetting apprentices, setting individual letters into a frame ready to print — a process that dates back to Gutenberg and is how everything was printed until the 20th century.

After three years he was a journeyman typesetter. He then won a coveted place to the Munich Academy for the Graphic Arts. He and his future wife, Karin Klempau, moved to Munich. He described the move to Bavaria as a bigger culture shock than moving to America.

After completing his studies at the academy, he became a master printer. This was celebrated at a grand celebration of the printers’ guild which included being baptized in a vat of beer! He and Karin had two sons (Andreas, wife Marilee, children Hanna and Kiefer) and Heiko (Michelle and sons Kai Robert and Heiko Jr). Peter and Karin’s young marriage later dissolved.

In 1972 he immigrated to America, settling in the bay area. He married Lyn Gladstone, and after Karin died, the two boys joined them in California. He and Lyn later divorced.

Peter had a successful printing career in San Francisco. He owned a top-quality printing company and later did print brokering, consulting, and teaching. He retired at 59 to follow maritime dreams that had been implanted when he was a Sea Scout. Through the years he had numerous sailboats. He bought a 65’ Philip Rhodes ketch in Florida and sailed it through the Caribbean and the Panama Canal back to San Francisco. He sailed three times to southeast Alaska with his German Shepherd, Max. Wanting to see what the winters were like, he went to Petersburg, Alaska, where on his third day he met the town librarian, Joyce Jenkins. It was an instantaneous mutual attraction! Joyce and Peter married in 2003, and after eleven years in Petersburg, they moved to Orcas Island in 2013.

Peter was a man with many dreams. He lived a full life and was able to fulfill many of them. He was an enthusiastic guy who followed his passions. He died at home in Olga of pancreatic cancer on Jan. 30, 2026. On Orcas he was part of the Yacht Club, the Orcas Island Choral Society, and the Episcopal Church.

A memorial service will be held at the Episcopal Parish Church on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2:00. Donations may be made to the church, the Choral Society, or to Operation Smile.

Orcas Island Choral Society, PO Box 346, Eastsound, 98245
Operation Smile, 3461 Faculty Blvd, Virginia Beach, VA 23453
Emmanuel Church, PO Box 8, Eastsound, WA 98245

Original Obituary at: The Islands Sounder