Ralph Clarence Schultz, 92, composer, choral director, educator, university president, died September 24, 2024, in Albany, New York. He was born June 23, 1932, in Dolton, Illinois, and began his music study at the age of five. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Cosmopolitan School of Music, Chicago, Illinois, and a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Concordia Teacher’s College, River Forest, Illinois, in 1954. Upon graduation, he and his wife, Dorothy Ruth Nickel, married June 20, 1954, began their teaching careers in Cleveland, Ohio. Ralph Schultz served as teacher and organist at Trinity Lutheran Church, Cleveland, from 1954 until 1961. In 1955 he enrolled at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, to study organ with Robert Noehren and composition with Ross Lee Finney. He transferred to the Cleveland Institute of Music, earning a Master of Music degree in theory and composition in 1960. During Schultz’s tenure at Trinity Church, he and his teacher Noehren guided the congregation to replace its M. P. Möller organ with a new instrument by Rudolf von Beckerath of Hamburg, Germany. The instrument was the first built for the United States by the builder, and the first four-manual mechanical-action instrument to be installed in this country in the modern era.
In 1961 Ralph Schultz accepted the call to chair the music department at Concordia College, Bronxville, New York, teaching music and directing the choir, serving that institution for 37 years, and he began service as minister of music to Village Lutheran Church. Shortly after his move, he began pursuing a doctorate in music education at Teachers College of Columbia University, New York City. Given his desire to compose for the church, Schultz transferred to Union Theological Seminary, New York City, earning his doctorate in 1967. He later returned to Union as a lecturer in conducting. His direction of the Concordia Choir received critical acclaim for performances at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Schultz was installed as president of Concordia, Bronxville, in 1977.
As a composer, Schultz wrote sonatas for piano and oboe, pieces for strings, and numerous works for organ and choirs. Collaborating with his wife, he wrote special music for the weddings of all six of their children and the baptisms of their 14 grandchildren.
Schultz was a contributor to Concordia Publishing House’s Music Education Series and helped inaugurate the Concordia University System. He served on the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod convention planning committee (1967), the LCMS Worship Commission (1969–1971), the LCMS Atlantic District education committee (1968–1972), and the U.S. President’s Task Force on Higher Education (1983–1986).
Ralph Schultz retired from the presidency of Concordia College in June of 1998; he and his wife moved to Slingerlands, New York. In retirement he continued to compose and conduct, founding the Jubilate Singers and Orchestra, which performed 20 annual concerts in the Capital Region.
Ralph C. Schultz is survived by his wife of 70 years, Dorothy. The Schultzes had six children, 14 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Their son, Steven, died in 1985. A funeral for Schultz was held on October 4 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Delmar, New York, with burial at Bethlehem Cemetery. Memorials may be made to Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 85 Elm Avenue, Delmar, New York 12054 (blcdelmar.com) or Capital City Rescue Mission, 259 South Pearl Street, Albany, New York 12202 (capitalcityrescuemission.org).
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