I've been unsure as to what to write and have decided to just ramble on and tell you what comes to mind regarding my life post WHS. Here goes:

    JOBS: Ball State University, Dir. of Univ. Bands, 1969-71

                Staples HS, Westport, CT, Dir. of Bands, 1971-72

                Glenbrook South HS, Glenview, IL, Allied Arts Dir., 1972-73

                Brentwood HS, Brentwood, Long Island, NY, Dir. of Bands, 1973-98

I retired in June, l998 and moved to Winter Haven, FL. I worked part-time at DisneyWorld for the Disney Cruise Line from l998 until 2003. I've gotten back into playing professionally (Alto Sax/Clarinet) part-time at DisneyWorld and 4 local jazz (big) bands and a symphony orchestra. It's as much as I want to do in retirement.

PERSONAL: I was divorced from my wife, Judy, in 1975. I have 3 children-Kristen(40), Erik(38) and Kurt(36). I was granted custody and raised them myself from the ages of 8,6 and 4. My daughter, Kristen, is a mother of 3, a lawyer, married to a surgeon and lives in Boston. My son, Erik, is a father of 4, an investment banker, married to his Russian wife and lives in Moscow, Russia. My son, Kurt, is a father of 1, an Employment Specialist with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and lives in Dallas, TX. I never remarried but came close a few times (Whew!). I'm currently seriously dating a wonderful girl, Janna(46), a travel agent and feel great. By the way, I'm 71 so "thank you GOD!".

Life hasn't worked out the way I imagined but all in all, everything has been for the best. I had to leave Ball State University because my wife hated Muncie, IN and threatened to leave me and take the kids. I decided I could always get another job but not another family. As it turned out, Judy didn't like being a mother (she was an opera singer in NY and Europe) and I enjoyed being a dad so that's how the custody thing came about.

Plane crashes in Defiance County;
one person reported dead

Paul Harris, 57, Wauconda, Ill., was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash by Defiance County Coroner Paul Brose.

The small plane went down in a field along Whetstone Road, about one mile south of U.S. 24. According to Lt. Michael Marchek of the Ohio Highway Patrol's Defiance post, the plane had reportedly left Grace Lake, Ill., bound for Findlay earlier in the day.

"Witnesses saw the plane spiraling out of control," said Marchek. Those witnesses were construction crews working in the area in connection with the U.S. 24 expansion project. He reported parts of the plane were seen falling from the plane up to at least a mile southeast of the crash site.

An investigator from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) arrived on the scene later in the afternoon to inspect the heavily damaged plane. A cause has yet to be determined.

"We did have contact with the aircraft," said Elizabeth Cory of the FAA's Great Lakes regional office in Des Plains, Ill., "and there was nothing unusual about the contact. The aircraft was cleared for descent (to 3,000 feet) and that's the last we heard of him.

"The FAA will investigate the event," she added, "and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is the lead investigator on this event. These investigations typically take several months to a year before they're completed. The FAA does its report based on its areas of regulatory responsibility, which includes the maintenance of the aircraft, the certification of the pilot, the rules of flight, among other things, and then our information goes into the NTSB report."

Harris had been a pilot with Angel Flight Central, an organization whose mission is to serve the public in need by arranging charitable flights for access to health care and other humanitarian purposes. The organization, headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., utilizes private volunteer pilots with their own planes.

Christel Gollnick, CEO of Angel Flight Central, said Wednesday afternoon that Harris was not transporting anyone at the time of the crash but was on his way to pick up a passenger.

"Paul was a fabulous Angel Flight volunteer," said Gollnick. "He had flown many flights over the years. He was very experienced, a very trusted pilot. He passed away doing something he loved."

Assisting at the scene were the Defiance County Sheriff's Office and Delaware Township Fire Department

Wauconda pilot killed on volunteer flight

By Kristen Kridel, Tribune staff reporter. The Associated Press contributed to this report

September 27, 2007

In lew of flowers:
Paul Harris Memorial Fund
Midwest Bank
585 Ela Rd
Lake Zurich, IL 60047

Memorial Get together
Oct. 6, 2007
1:00 PM
Campbell Airport
Hanger #4
22733 W. Townline Rd
Grayslake, IL 60030
Questions: 847-223-2200

Rest in Peace Rich!
You played a hell of a saxaphone!

Yes, my husband Rick is Joan's (Von Kutzelben '68) brother. We met in the summer of 1969, after his return from Viet Nam. Rick attended Prospect High and graduated in 1961. (He's a really "Ole Fart")! We lived in Mt. Prospect, Arlington, and two homes in Lake Zurich. My Mom and Dad retired to Atlanta in August 1972, and we relocated to Atlanta in August 1983. We have three children and 5-1/2 grandchildren, all living in the Atlanta Metro area. I am a Store Manager with Publix Supermarkets here in Atlanta, planning to retire in six years. We are very active with our families, and use our travel trailer a lot, touring the Southeast. I have stayed close friends with Gary '67 and Sue Hess Krueger '68 and John '66 and Sue Williams Gribbon '68, and we spend time with them whenever we travel to Chicago. I look forward to hearing from all of you. We will be unable to attend this year's get together as we will be celebrating my Mom's 85th birthday. She and my sister are driving in from Daytona that week, but Rick and I will be attending the 40th Reunion in 2008. I am attaching a photo from 1967 and one taken a few weeks ago while we were on a junket up to the North Georgia Mountains.

FUNERAL – Monday, May 14
Wake Chapel 9-10am
Funeral at 10:00am
St. Edna Church
2525 N. Arlington Heights Road
Arlington Heights, IL

The funeral mass will be on Monday, May 14  at 10 am with a 9 am wake chapel here at Saint Edna Catholic church 2525 North Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights Illinois 60004.  Cards can be sent to the church office and we will be sure the Schulze family gets them. 

There will be a funeral luncheon directly following the mass.  Any one out there that would like to help out with the lunch that it would be much appreciated.  You can call Ruth Forster 847-259-6142 and let her know if you can bring a salad or desert or if you can help serve.

Robert E. Schulze: 1933 - 2007

Teacher and coach at Wheeling

By Patricia Trebe
Special to the Tribune
Published May 17, 2007

Robert E. Schulze was an intimidating presence in the halls of Wheeling High School, but appearances were deceiving, colleagues said.

"He was the strongest guy I think I have ever known," said Rick Benedetto, former head football coach at the school. "He was like the rock of Wheeling High School. But he was fantastic with the kids."He would be grabbing people in the hallways and he would have you in a hold and you couldn't get away from him. The kids loved it when he did that."

Mr. Schulze, 74, died of myelofibrosis, a blood disorder, on Wednesday, May 9, in his Arlington Heights home.

For 30 years, Mr. Schulze taught physical education at the District 214 school where he also was wrestling coach and assistant football and golf coach.

"He was a mentor," said Neal Weiner, the school's boys athletic director and head wrestling coach. "He helped me learn an unbelievable amount of information and also how to be a leader."

Former students said he was demanding and respectful.

"Coach Schulze had something to offer everyone, and if you listened and worked hard, you are a better person today because of the work ethic he taught all of us," said Todd Wilson, a member of the 1977-78 conference champion team.

Mr. Schulze was born in Blue Island. His family moved around the Midwest with his father's job as head of A&P Bakeries before settling in Mt. Prospect.

At Arlington High School, Mr. Schulze was captain of the football and wrestling teams. He graduated from Northern Illinois University with a bachelor's degree in education.

His teaching career was put on hold after he enlisted in the Navy, where he was a pilot. He was in Squadron VA-145 and flew off the USS Ranger. Mr. Schulze remained in the Naval Reserve based in Glenview and was discharged in 1971 as a lieutenant.

For several years, Mr. Schulze taught physical education at South Junior High School in Arlington Heights District 25, where he met his wife, Mary, a teacher at another district school. They got married in 1963 and moved to Arlington Heights in 1973.

Mr. Schulze started at Wheeling High School when it opened in 1964 and received a master's degree that year from NIU.

He retired in 1992.

"He loved to play golf and he loved classical music," said his son Kurt. "He used to drive people nuts because ... he would be blasting away his classical music and not a lot of people were into it."

Survivors include his wife; two other sons, Eric and Brett; two brothers, Ted and Bill; and a sister, Grace Glascock.

Services have been held.

Here is a link to the Daily Herald obituary page guest book for Coach Schulze:
http://www.legacy.com/DailyHerald/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=87960681