By Shereen Siewert
The granddaughter of a man who lost his life Saturday in a Wausau mobile home fire is raising funds to help her surviving grandmother rebuild her life.
The blaze was reported at 11:18 a.m. Saturday at 461 Lazy River Drive. Crews responded within six minutes but the home was fully involved by the time the first engine arrived. Two people, Mary Schultz and Don Schultz, Jr., barely escaped the blaze. But Mary’s husband of 68 years, Don Schultz Sr., was unable to escape. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
“He was wheelchair bound, and by the time Don Jr. was able to call 911 and get his mom Mary out, the smoke was overwhelmingly thick when he attempted to go back for him,” the GoFundMe post reads. “Mary lost her whole life in 2 minutes. She lost the love of her life of 68 years of marriage. She lost the place she called home. She also lost a lifetime of memories. Starting over at the age of 86 without a husband or home is completely daunting and overwhelming. Mary was the type of lady who saved every card that anyone gave her and would pull them out and read through them regularly, they are gone along with every other memory built over a lifetime.”
The home was a total loss and the family is in the process of finding adequate housing for Mary Schultz.
“The Schultz family is a family of faith, and even if you cannot give monetarily, prayers are appreciated just as much as any monetary gift,” the post reads.
The fire remains under investigation, but family members say a lightning strike is possibly to blame. The blaze broke out during a series of serious storms that passed through central Wisconsin over the weekend.
The GoFundMe page can be found here.
