In Loving Memory of Donald Kenneth Schultze – February 3, 2025

With heavy hearts, we announce that Donald Kenneth Schultze passed peacefully, with his loving wife of fifty-seven years by his side, and surrounded by family.   Don was a devoted family man, resilient survivor, visionary business builder, and revered horseman. His remarkable life was defined by unwavering love, perseverance, and an unyielding determination to love and help others while living life to the fullest regardless of circumstance.

Born in 1938 and raised in Portsmouth NH, Don was a long-time resident of Dover NH. He was a proud graduate of Portsmouth High School and Columbia University and strong contributor to the business and civic communities of the New Hampshire seacoast for decades. He dedicated his life to providing for his family, always putting their needs above his own. His sacrifices and hard work were a testament to his boundless love, ensuring that those closest to him had every opportunity to thrive. His legacy as a protector and provider will endure through the generations he guided and supported.

At age 15, he faced a life-altering event when he was tragically shot, leaving him partially paralyzed. However, true to his indomitable spirit, extraordinary strength and resilience, he overcame this hardship and was able to walk with only a slight limp for the next six decades. Though he ultimately succumbed to complications from this injury, he lived a full and meaningful life, never allowing his past to dictate his future. Though he faced such physical challenges, he will be remembered most for his boundless spirit, warmth, and timely wit, including an uncanny ability to lighten any situation with levity.

A keen businessman with an exceptional mind, he played a pivotal role in expanding and elevating the family business, New Hampshire Provision Company, Inc., of Portsmouth NH, makers of the famous Schultz’s Special Frankfurters. Through hard work, strategic vision, and an unrelenting commitment to excellence, he grew the company into a thriving enterprise, leaving behind a legacy of success and inspiration. After the sale of the meat processing enterprise, he embarked on a second chapter as a real estate developer. He completed the master plan design, permitting, and initial stages of construction transforming the former Frank Jones brewery on Islington Street in Portsmouth NH, which had housed the meat processing and manufacturing operations, into the mixed-use facility it is today. He continually supported NH seacoast charitable causes, notably a multitude of youth sports programs. His contributions to the business and civic world will be remembered as a testament to his leadership and ingenuity.

Beyond his life in business, Don had an enduring passion for standardbred horse racing. As a breeder and owner of champion racehorses, his impact winning stakes races and producing stallions and mares, who themselves produced champions, spanned multiple states, continents and generations over his lifetime. His deep knowledge, love for the sport, and breeding acumen to recognize and cultivate greatness, cements his reputation as a respected and influential figure in the standardbred horse racing community for decades to come. The friendships he cultivated in this industry were a profound joy in his life and influenced him as much as he impacted the industry.

Personable and kind-hearted with friends and strangers alike, Don’s defining passion and purpose was to support and provide for his family and friends. He valued and appreciated family above all else, providing a beacon of wisdom and warmth for all in his large and extended family. His strong-willed resilience, caring nature, and his passion for business and the horse racing industry stemmed in large part from his incredible upbringing by his extraordinary parents, Carl W. Schultze and Freda A. (Peschel) Schultze, of Portsmouth NH, who preceded him in death. His older brother, Carl R. Schultze also predeceased him.  His absence will be deeply felt by all who knew and loved him, especially his immediate family.  He is survived by his devoted and loving wife, Hazel A. (Needham) Schultze; his younger brother, Frederick R. Schultze (Antoinette); his son, Donald K. Schultze, Jr. (Suzanne); his daughters Kristen S. Greene (Kevin), Erica S. Mumford (Christopher), and Cortney S. Brown (Florian); his eight grandchildren, Maxine and Lucie Schultze, Ava and Cassidy Greene, Alexis and Trevor Mumford, and Syrus and Colin Brown; and several cousins, nephews, nieces, grandnephews, and grandnieces.

A celebration of his life will be held this summer in the NH seacoast region where family, friends, and loved ones will gather to honor a truly remarkable man. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Standardbred Transition Alliance (P.O. Box 377, Laurelville, OH 43135, https://www.standardbredtransition.org/donate) in his memory.

Rest in peace, Don. Your legacy will live on in the hearts of all who had the privilege of knowing you.