I returned on Oct. 9 from a vacation trip to Denver to see the page one story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about the death of former Milwaukee County executive David F. Schulz (1949-2007).
I immediately remembered another trip I had made almost 20 years ago. Many people may have known and worked with Schulz in local government, but I went to Israel with him.
More accurately, I, he, his wife Jo Ann and some 170 other Wisconsinites participated in Wisconsin-Israel ’89, “the first ever state-wide excursion of its kind and size,” as The Chronicle reported at the time (editorial in the issue of Feb. 10, 1989).
I covered this intense seven-day mission for The Chronicle. It was so exhausting and sleep-depriving an experience that I became ill within a day or two after I returned; but it was also so exhilarating and informative — and I got so many articles out of it — that I also regard it as one of the high points of my work here.
With the Jews in the group went several elected officials, including then-Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist and state and federal legislators as well as Schulz. Some of them, including Schulz, had their expenses paid by members of the Jewish community, a fact that inspired some critical comments in Milwaukee news media.
So one of the first questions I asked Schulz and the other politicians in the airplane on the way to Israel was about that subject. Schulz readily responded: “Simply because I’m a local official doesn’t mean I shouldn’t inform myself about compelling foreign policy issues,” he said.
(The politicians’ participation also inspired a controversial cartoon — possibly by Stuart Carlson of the then-Milwaukee Sentinel — in which the first panel shows a reporter asking if the Israel trip “changed you,” and the second shows Norquist, Schulz and others saying “No” while wearing the characteristic hats, suits and beards of haredi Jews.)
Obviously, I did not get to know Schulz or any of the other political leaders well during this trip. But I do remember that Schulz was approachable and friendly, and he answered questions without hesitation.
I spoke to him at greater length for an article I wrote about how all the political figures reacted to the trip, which appeared in the Feb. 24, 1989, issue.
At that time the Milwaukee Jewish Federation was involved with Project Renewal, and had been paired with Or Yehuda, an Israeli development town. Schulz said he especially enjoyed seeing an Or Yehuda social program — “home environment” centers for abused and neglected children. These centers provided “a stable family environment” in which the children could eat, study, and receive counseling.
And Schultz told me that he was going to see if some such program could be started in Milwaukee, which he said had a “tremendous problem” of child abuse and neglect.
I don’t know if he ever tried to follow through on this. As the Journal Sentinel article last week pointed out, Schulz’s one term as county executive (1988-1992) was turbulent; and he decided not to seek a second term because he felt, “I’m simply not cut out to be a politician.”
But what I saw of him in Israel apparently harmonized with what other people saw — that Schulz was innovative, creative, open to learning from others, and continually seeking ways to solve the problems of Milwaukee County and improve the lives of its citizens. His early death is a great loss to the whole Milwaukee-area community. May his memory be a blessing.
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