UPS trainer from Colfax joins Hall of Fame

Jim "Zeke" Schuldt, Colfax High grad with the class of 1963, was honored last week with induction into the Tacoma-Pierce County Hall of Fame at a ceremony in the Tacoma Dome's exhibition hall. Schuldt retired in 2005 after 35 years at the University of Puget Sound where he started the athletic training program.

A sports career which started in the locker room at Colfax High School and ran for 35 years at Tacoma's University of Puget Sound was among accomplishments honored last Thursday at the exhibition hall at the Tacoma Dome. Jim "Zeke" Schuldt, a member of the 1963 class of Colfax High School, was among 37 inductees into the Tacoma-Pierce County Hall of Fame.

Schuldt, who now lives in Gig Harbor, went to college at the University of Puget Sound, served 21 months in the Marines and then went back to UPS, where he was the first athletic trainer.

The son of the late Art and Mildred Schuldt of Colfax, he said he had his first look at UPS when he traveled there with Colfax basketball teams to compete in the state A basketball tournament.

Coaches on the Bulldog scene during that time included Jack Bafus, Jim Talley and Rich McConnell in basketball, and Clayton Dunn and Dick Felber in football.

"One of the coaches that I really remember was Dick Felber," Schuldt said.

At that time Felber was assisting in the football ranks after the Colfax boxing program had closed down.

"I think he really enjoyed coaching boxing," Schuldt said.

Schuldt can remember when boxing "smokers" were a big attraction in Colfax, and he and his older brother, Gary, attended with their dad.

Felber later marked a long career as Colfax wrestling coach after that program essentially replaced boxing.

"The coach who really impressed me and probably started me out in training was Bob Tulin," Schuldt said.

Then science teacher at CHS, Tulin was coaching junior varsity football and showed young Schuldt some of the physical aspects involved in training. Tulin later went to medical school, which led to his career as a doctor in Colfax.

Schuldt noted his nickname, Zeke, was bestowed on him by his brother who was inspired by a character in a radio program.

After experiencing the UPS scene with Colfax hoop teams, Schuldt decided that is where he wanted to attend college. He remembers going to a recruiting session when UPS representatives, including the college's president, visited Colfax.

Schuldt admits he was not a top level high school recruit, and that is one reason his folks wanted him to get away from his friends who were headed to WSC.

"Now, I couldn't get in to those places with the grades I had," he confessed.

Schuldt said he had received some advance indication his skills as a high school trainer would bode well in Tacoma, and the Loggers' hoop coach Russ Wilderson offered him what would now be called a student internship.

"At that time he was taping all of his own players in the locker room," Schuldt.

The promise of "maybe" getting paid for his services eventually netted $150 for the semester.

Schuldt noted his "Zeke" nickname really took hold when he departed for college because he roomed with another Colfax grad, Jim Prouty.

"You really couldn't have two Jims in the same room," he explained.

After graduating at UPS, Schuldt faced his military obligation in the days of the draft and wound up serving 21 months with the U.S. Marines in northern California.

He returned to Tacoma in 1970 and began a career that lasted until he retired in 2005.

Schuldt noted when he started, the UPS athletic department included five men's teams with a total of about 150 athletes. When he finished 35 years later, UPS was competing in 17 different sports with a total of 23 teams and 450 male and female athletes.

The growth continued despite a drop by the Loggers from NCAA Division II to NAIA.

Schuldt said at the start of his years at UPS he made a point of checking out Colfax teams when the Bulldogs qualified for the early state A playoff at UPS, but he lost contact when the state action moved to the then-new Tacoma Dome.

He knew Colfax students who attended the Tacoma school, and he particularly remembers when Tim Bruya played baseball for the Loggers.

Schuldt's experience at UPS over the years led to other training assignments. One was a trainer with a soccer team which played in a league that went broke. He did stints at Olympic Marathon trials and worked as a trainer for three years for the Seahawks in the early 1980s.

He dropped the Seahawks gig because it became too tough to fly home from a UPS road matchup in California late on a Saturday night and then report to the 'hawks the next morning.

"I had to be in Bellevue at 8 a.m.," he noted.

Last week's recognition was the latest of several honors Schuldt has received. He has also conducted classroom clinics and presentations at many high schools in the Tacoma area.

A bachelor, he now lives in retirement on a five-acre place near Gig Harbor.

"There's a lot of things around here that need to be done, but they never seem to get done," Schuldt confessed.

He added the idea of returning to the open spaces of eastern Washington often appeals to him. The traffic and other impacts of the population growth in the Puget Sound area has become a hassle.