Lange Deforest Schultz

Lange Deforest Schultz of Wheat Ridge, CO died April 28, 2025, one week before his 90th birthday with his wife Nancy by his side. Lange was born May 5, 1935 in Portland, OR the son of Walter Schultz and Bertha Hansen Schultz. His father was a teacher and the family lived in Elgin and Gaston, OR before WW2. During the war, he lived with family in Port Angeles, WA. Once back in Portland, he attended Llewellyn Elementary and graduated from Cleveland High School in 1952. Lange attended the University of Oregon and was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. In 1956 he married Elaine Earnest and began a family in Portland. He got his start in the automotive business working at Standard Batteries. In 1963, he joined The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company and promotions took the family from Portland to Kent, WA and then Arvada, CO in 1973. He retired from Firestone in 1998.

In 1981, Lange married Nancy Olson and they spent 44 years together taking cruises, visiting friends and family around the US, going to Rockies games and playing poker.

Lange is survived by his wife Nancy, daughters Amy Schultz of Portland and Gail Schultz of Denver, stepson Keith Olson (Amy) of Carbondale and brother Valdemar Schultz of Portland. He was preceded in death by his son Steven Schultz and sisters Jane Carlson and Trilby Roman.

Donations may be made in Lange’s memory to Collier Hospice Center 3210 Lutheran Pkwy, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033.