Obituary: Capt. Harold Schultz

Capt. Harold A. Schultz, 80, of Paducah, Ky., died February 19 of Covid-19 and related pneumonia.  Schultz was a fixture on the inland waterways, having started as a deckhand when he was 13, and got his first captain’s job on a tugboat in Louisiana at age 15.  Aside from the time he spent in the Coast Guard and the Army, he worked on the rivers on towboats for many years. In the late 1960s to early 1970s, he owned and operated Admiral River Towing in the New Orleans area. He was nicknamed “Admiral Fu” (meaning crazy in French Cajun), and his boats were the Admiral Fu and the Lady Susan. In 1996, he began working for Delta Queen Steamboat Company.  He served as pilot and also as master on all three of the steamers Delta Queen, Mississippi Queen and American Queen.  He retired in 2014.  He was preceded in death by his parents and two younger brothers.  Both brothers, Arthur J. Schultz and Harry Williams Jr., had worked as captains/pilots on towboats as well.