Ward Preston Schultz, 61, died peacefully at his home in Edwardsville, on Monday, May 10, 2021.  Ward was the fifth and youngest child of Forrest and Lola (Miller) Schultz of Caseyville, who preceded him in death.  Surviving are his sisters: Judith Schroeder, New Haven, Missouri, and Kathleen Schultz Mendez, Edwardsville; his brothers: Eric Schultz, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Marvin Schultz (Helena), Collinsville; niece, Mary Lynn Bonnarens, husband Randy Bonnarens, their children Shane and Colter, New Haven, Missouri; nephew, Kurt Schroeder, wife Pamela and their children, Taurie, Dakota and Levi, New Haven Missouri; niece Christa Kuhn, husband Cullen Kuhn and their children, Maiya and Lydia, Webster Groves, Missouri; and nephews: Gary Schultz, St. Louis, Missouri, and Stephen Schultz, Collinsville, Illinois.

Ward grew up on South Clinton Road in rural Caseyville and attended Collinsville public school, graduating from Collinsville High School in 1977.  In 1979 he received an Associate Degree in Applied Science Horticulture from Belleville Area College; in 1983 he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Plant and Soil Science from SIU Carbondale; in 1992 he graduated from Ranken Technical Institute with an Associate Degree of Technology with honors in instrumentation and process control. Over the next 29 years, he worked in instrumentation at the Clark Oil Refinery in Hartford, Illinois; for Archer Daniels Midland in Peoria, Illinois; and most recently for CBRE and JLL at Monsanto and Bayer in St. Louis, Missouri, as a certified control system technician.  He was a member of Automation Society International, and, he was a laborer with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Ward enjoyed hiking and photography, playing the mandolin and guitar, and listening to bluegrass and old rock music.  He was looking forward to retirement and visiting the redwood forest of the northwest.  He had a vast knowledge of old movies and American political history, which he loved to share over coffee with his friends.  He will be remembered by his family as a private person, frugal and generous, eccentric, witty, and skeptical.  He will be greatly mourned and missed.

Donations may be made in his memory to:  The Salvation Army, 3007 East 23 ^rd Street, Granite City, Illinois, 62040 or Operation Food Search, 6282 Olive Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri, 63130.

Cremation has been accorded by Sunset Hill Funeral Home & Cremation Services of Edwardsville, Illinois.

A graveside service will be held on Friday, May 21, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. at the Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery, Caseyville, Illinois.