Henry J. Schultz was an American politician who served as mayor of Easton, Pennsylvania from 1976 to 1980.

Early life

Schultz was born on January 8, 1910, in Easton, Pennsylvania. His Father, Henry C. Schultz, was the city's former

Postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

from 1934 to 1954. He attended Easton High School, graduating in 1927. He attended Lafayette College, but graduated from

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

as part of their class of 1932 with a Bachelor of Science in building construction. He worked for his fathers roofing and sheet metal company until the start of World War II when he volunteered for the Navy. He took part in the

Battle of Iwo Jima The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJ ...

and the allied occupation of Shanghai.

Political career

Easton councilor and mayor

Schultz's political career started when he was elected to Easton's first Charter Study Commission. At the same time he served on the City of Easton Authority by appointment of Mayor George Smith. He was elected to Easton City Council in November 1965, winning re-election in 1969 and 1973, serving as president of the council from 1974 to 1976. In 1976 he would defeat incumbent two term mayor

Fred Ashton Fred L. Ashton, Jr. (March 7, 1931 – May 9, 2013) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Easton, Pennsylvania, from 1968 to 1976. Ashton also served as the first strong mayor of Easton, beginning with his inauguration for a seco ...

and serve a four-year term, before being stunningly defeated during his re-election by Republican

Phil Mitman Phil Mitman is an American politician and former Mayor of Easton, Pennsylvania. Mitman served as the mayor of Easton for two, nonconsecutive four-year terms: His first term lasted from 1980 to 1984. Mitman was once again elected Mayor of Easton in ...

. This is still considered to be one of the most shocking upsets in Lehigh Valley political history.

Post-mayoral career

Following his defeat in the 1980 mayoral campaign he remained a local small business advocate as he was before getting into politics. He also served 20 years as a tipstaff for Northampton County President Judge Robert A. Freedberg, retiring in 2001.

Personal life

In college he joined Phi Kappa Theta and would be a lifetime member. He was also a member of the

Veterans of Foreign Wars The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an organization of US war veterans, who, as military service members fought in wars, campaigns, and expeditions on foreign land, waters, or a ...

and the Knights of Columbus. He married H. Josephine Schmid on October 27, 1934, and had two children; a son John and a daughter Anne Marie. He died peacefully in his sleep June 17, 2008, aged 98. He is buried in St. Joseph Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schultz, Henry J. 1910 births 2008 deaths Easton Area High School alumni Mayors of Easton, Pennsylvania