Paul Schultz

Preeminent colo-rectal surgeon Paul Evans Schultz MD died at home in his sleep on June 20, 2022. He was 86.Born in 1935 to Mary (nee Evans) and Paul Schultz in Dubuque, IA, he was raised in Fond du Lac, WI. His mother was a public school music teacher, and her sons were both active musically. Dr Schultz in particular had a beautiful tenor voice, which he maintained his entire life. He was an Eagle Scout and fondly remembered attending the International Boy Scout Jamboree in Austria in 1951. Dr Schultz graduated from Carleton College in 1957 and Northwestern University Medical School in 1961. Following an internship at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle, he returned to Northwestern for his residency from 1962-66. While at Northwestern, he worked with Dr Steven Reid on the very first studies on the effects of concussions on the Northwestern football team. Dr Schultz served two years as a Captain in the Army as Chief of Surgery at McAfee Army Hospital in White Sands, NM. Following that, he developed his specialty of colon and rectal surgery at the Ferguson Clinic/Michigan State University in Grand Rapids, MI. In 1969, he joined a private proctology practice in St Paul. Medicine was his calling. He was known for his kind but direct bedside manner with his patients and his camaraderie with his staff. He provided medical volunteer care to the prison population and at the Red Door Program, and accepted barter from patients. He taught in the Residency Program at the University of Minnesota. He was a founding member of MNGI Digestive Health, the first physician-owned GI/Endoscopy Clinic in Minnesota. He practiced with unrivalled energy, making hospital calls 7 days a week on recovering patients.

In 2001, when St Paul Companies stopped writing malpractice insurance, Dr Schultz joined scores of Minnesota independent doctors and hundreds nationwide in unenthusiastic, premature retirement. While that decision was financially prudent, it was never intellectually satisfying.  So, when the University of California School of Medicine developed a program that redirected specialist medical skills to the nationally understaffed field of general medicine, he eagerly worked to become recertified as a General Practitioner. For the past few years Dr Schultz had been an Urgent Care doctor at Apple Valley Medical Center. Most recently, he was Center Physician at Biolife Plasma Services in St Paul. Ever committed, he worked there until 5 days before his death. Dr Schultz married Andrea Mullenbach in 1959. They had four children together. After their divorce, he married Susan Hunter Sherin in 1985. They lived on unique rural acreage very close to St Paul, lovingly known as the Schultz Farm. Paul was an avid gardener, promoting organic methods long before they became popular. His specialty was strawberries, which for several years he sold with other organics at local farmers markets. At various times he kept chickens, sheep, cattle, horses, and bees.  Paul and Sue also raised a series of fun-loving poodles at their farm. They were devoted supporters of the arts. Paul was an early sponsor of the Cricket Theater in Minneapolis in the 1970s. They accumulated a large, eclectic collection of ceramics and other visual arts. They also traveled extensively.

Dr Schultz is survived by wife Susan of Stillwater, MN; brother John (Joan) Schultz of Correll, MN; children Kristen (Marcus) Ballou of Kent, WA; Karen (Mark) Paige of Santa Fe, NM; Amy (Sean) McKenzie of Highland Park, IL; David (Denise) Fullerton of Mounds View, MN; stepdaughters Kerry Sherin of St Paul, MN, and Colleen Sherin of New York, NY; and ten grandchildren. Celebration of Paul’s life has been scheduled for Saturday, August 27, 1-5 PM, with a time of sharing at 2:00 PM at Bradshaw Celebration of Life Center, 2800 Curve Crest Blvd, Stillwater, MN. In lieu of flowers, Paul would be honored by a contribution to one of the not-for-profit organizations that do so much of the needed work in this country and around the world.