Alfred Schulz

Mass of Christian Burial was held at 11:00 a.m., Monday, January 4, 2010 at St. Liborius Catholic Church in Polo with Father Chester Murtha and Father Joseph Puthenkulathil officiating. Burial followed in the Mount Calvary Cemetery, Polo with full military honors. A scripture wake service was held at 3:00 p.m., Sunday, January 3, 2010 at St. Liborius Catholic Church in Polo.

Alfred was born on the family farm near New England, North Dakota on October 13, 1931 to Joseph and Anna (Kubista) Schulz. He was the sixth of eight sons and seven daughters. Alfred grew up loving the outdoors. One of the things he enjoyed the most was training and riding horses. His favorite horse was a pinto named King which he rode along the river areas where he lived to do his trapping.

Alfred helped his father farm until he was drafted into the Army during the Korean War on January 11, 1952. He trained at Fort Leonard Wood Missouri. He served in Korea from June of 1952 to December of 1953. Alfred was awarded the Korean Service Medal with three bronze stars, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Presidential Unit Citation. He was honorably discharge with the ranking of Corporal and remained in the reserves until February 20, 1960.

On January 17, 1957, he married Carol Joanne Bautz at St. Wenselaus Church in Dickinson, North Dakota. They lived on a farm west of New England, North Dakota until 1976 when they moved to a farm west of Polo, South Dakota. In the spring of 2009, they retired from farming and moved into Miller, South Dakota.

He also enjoyed rescuing animals. He had a passion for raising crops and cattle. His interests in different species included guineas, turkeys, geese, ducks, top hat and other exotic chickens and another example Bue Lingo cattle - besides his wife’s favorite…pigs. He loved birds and was quick to spot a new one to the feeder and could identify many different kinds of birds.

There were many drives in the country to check fields to see if the seeds sprouted yet and if the cattle needed anything. However, some of the drives landed at the neighbors for afternoon coffee.

Many times he came home with a bouquet of wild flowers. Alfred was known to farm around a clump of blooming flowers and excitedly would take his wife to show what he had found. He would many times get down from his tractor to move a Killdeer nest or he would pick up a baby rabbit and bring it home for the kids. He was very alert to his environment and sometimes found Indian hammers and lost wild kittens that he brought home.

He always enjoyed traveling to visit friends and relatives. He loved to sit and talk for hours. Alfred’s favorite hobby was watching all the TV news channels, the Big Joe Polka Show and bull riding.

Although he wasn’t very good at expressing his feelings, he was very proud of his children and grandchildren’s achievements. He had a strong belief and fiercely defended Pro-Life issues. He loved to be surrounded by his grandchildren and great grandchildren and always beamed when he held them. His greatest legacy lives on in his large family.

Left to carry on his legacy are his wife, Carol of Miller; children: Delilah (Mark) Cotton of Orient, Lance (Sandy) Schulz of Polo, Nancy (Bill) Lewellen of Miller, Jeffrey (Kathy) Schulz of Aberdeen, Sandra (Rob) Mullaney of Polo, Bruce (Deena) Schulz of Sioux Falls, and Kurt Schulz of Redfield; grandchildren: Cody (Leah) and Cole Cotton, Crystal Cotton, Brian and Jason Schulz, Sean, Nick and Amanda Lewellen, Zachary and Megan Schulz, Brooke, Tierney, Riley, Henry and Ally Mullaney, and Carter, Benjamin, Lincoln and Grant Schulz; great grandchildren: Layne, Carly, Claire, Sydney and Maci; brothers: Pete (Ann) Schulz of North Dakota and Adam (Elaine) Schulz of North Dakota; sisters: Mary (Alphonse) Wandler of North Dakota, Rose (Dale) Nass of Oregon, Betty Schmidt of Oregon, Margaret Wolf of Oregon and Magdelene Fitterer of Washington.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers: Willy, Tony, Louie, Ted and Nick; sisters: Katie and Clara; and his grandson, Jack.

Reck Funeral Home of Miller has been entrusted with Alfred's arrangements.

CELEBRANTS
Father Chester Murtha
Father Joseph Puthenkulathil

CASKETBEARERS
Cody Cotton
Cole Cotton
Brian Schulz
Jason Schulz
Nick Lewellen
Sean Lewellen
Zachary Schulz
Riley Mullaney

HONORARAY CASKETBEARERS
George Wieseler
Darrell Foreman
Ray Zemlicka
Jim Wieseler
Gene Brueggeman
Leo Froning
Vic Martinmaas

ALTAR SERVERS
Carter Schulz
Henry Mullaney

LECTORS
Brooke Mullaney
Tierney Mullaney

OFFERTORY
Megan Schulz
Amanda Lewellen
Ben Schulz
Crystal Cotton

EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS
Ken Schaefer
Mike Schaefer

USHERS
Jim Anderson
Bob Haneke

ORGANIST
JoAnn Schaefers

DUET
Lornie Schletcher
Trixie Schletcher

MUSICAL SELECTIONS
"I am the Bread of Life"
"Amazing Grace"
"On Eagle's Wings"
Celtic Farewell"
"How Great Thou Art"

INTERMENT
Mount Calvary Cemetery
Polo, South Dakota
Full Military Honors