Cornelius Schultz

Cornelius J. Schultz (“Conny”) passed away peacefully on March 10, 2026, at the age of 97. Conny was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on December 14, 1928. At age 9, he moved to Washington, D.C., with his parents, George and Catherine (née Gonda) Schultz, where they resided for a year before permanently settling in the Rogers Park community of Chicago. Conny enlisted in the Marine Corps after attending St. Gregory High School and was sent to China. (He was proud to be one of fifteen World War II veterans commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII in a ceremony held at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center last July.)

In 1951, Conny married, and eventually he and his wife, Dorothy, raised their children in Chicago’s Roscoe Village. Conny was employed early on as a display and layout manager by Montgomery Ward and then later as a union carpenter by Ragnar Benson. When he and Dorothy relocated to Benton, Illinois, in the 1970s, Conny worked as a general contractor overseeing various construction and remodeling projects in that area. (His most notable remodeling project, however, the renovation of St. Andrew Church and Chapel in Chicago, was completed during the tenure of Monsignor John Quinn just prior to the Schultzes’ move to Benton.) The couple returned to Chicago in 2008, Dorothy died four years later, and Conny sold his Benton property to their former immediate neighbor, the Benton Consolidated High School.

Conny enjoyed going to auctions and browsing through antique shops and estate sales. He possessed a deep appreciation for objets d’art and devoted much of his time after retirement to creating art pieces, often of a religious nature, which he gifted to friends and family.

He is survived by his two children (Marcia Schultz and David Schultz [Rebecca]), five grandchildren (Michael Fujii [Eleanora], Gregory Fujii, Elaine Iwicki, Sarah Yeo [Derrick], and Scout Schultz), and nine great-grandchildren (Allegra and Evelyn Fujii; Malakai and Soriah Fujii; Alexander and Gabriel Iwicki; and Wesley, Parker, and Quinn Yeo).

Visitation will be held at St Michael Catholic Church in Old Town, 1633 N Cleveland Ave, Chicago, IL 60614, US, on March 18, 2026, from 9:00 am to 10:00 am, followed by the Prayer Service at 10:00 am.

A Committal Service will take place at Rosehill Cemetery, 5800 North Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60660, immediately following.