Lloyd was born in rural Ellsworth, Kansas on April 7, 1931 to Walter and Lilly Schultz. He was the second child of seven (being blessed with six sisters). He attended schools in Ellsworth and lived at various country homes and in town while growing up. His parents were members of St Paul's Lutheran Church - rural Ellsworth where he was baptized on May 3, 1931. He was later confirmed at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Ellsworth on June 17, 1945. Lloyd graduated from Ellsworth High School in 1949, and proudly joined the Navy Nov 1950 and served as a diesel mechanic aboard the USS Natchaug, preparing ships for the Korean War. He was honorably discharged Aug 18, 1954. After returning to Ellsworth from the Navy he met Gayle, a close friend of his sister (Gladys). Lloyd and Gayle's first date was Dec 7, 1954. They quickly fell in love and became engaged 37 days later ?. Lloyd followed Gayle's family to California following Gayle's High School graduation where they were married on September 1, 1955 in Bellflower Following the wedding they immediately left California to drive back to Kansas so that he could return to his job with the Natural Gas Company. On June 1, 1957 they left Kansas to move to California. Once in CA they lived in Bellflower for 1 year and Lloyd worked as a diesel mechanic, but was laid off after 6 months. He heard that the Vernon Fire Department was looking for one to join the new class that was already in session. He stopped there to fill out an application and talk to them about the job while Gayle waited in the car. When he returned to the car he said "I have to have that job". He was contacted on a Sunday to come in and interview the following day and was hired within days. The fire chief told him that he read a stack of applications and chose Lloyd because of his farming background, and his time in the Navy. Those two qualifications demonstrated to the chief his commitment and work ethic. He officially joined the department on Dec 18, 1957 (18 days after the class had started) where he worked his way up through the ranks, working his last day on Jan 2, 1986 - retiring as deputy fire chief. The fire department was his "other family" and his passion. He loved his life as a fireman. During his career he attended 2 years of community college and served as an Instructor at the Rio Hondo Fire Academy for several years. Once in California, they joined Bethany Lutheran Church where Lloyd served as an Elder for many years, lead the lawn crew for over 20 years and sang in the senior choir for over 40 years. He was passionate about the church and its members. Lloyd and Gayle's marriage was blessed with two daughters. Cindy and her husband, Bob, live in Laguna Hills and have three daughters (Kathy, Courtney, and Christen), and three granddaughters (KC, Emily, and Jayden). Tammy and her husband, Doug, live in rural Ellsworth, Kansas. At the time of Lloyd's retirement, October 1985, Lloyd and Gayle made the decision to purchase 112 acre farm in Ellsworth County so that they could spend more time in Kansas. They loved that farm and spent as much time as possible there while still living in California. Lloyd likes to take the credit for Tammy and Doug being together because they had the farm and Tammy liked to spend time there. Over the years, Lloyd and Gayle hosted get togethers and camp-outs at the farm for many people - too numerous to count. The majority of their farm visitors were members of Bethany. Courtney and Christen also liked to spend summer's at the farm with grandma and grandpa. While Tammy worked as a nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Long Beach Memorial hospital, Lloyd and Gayle became the first volunteer grandparents for the sick babies. Lloyd would often call Gayle at work and say he would be at the hospital holding the babies that needed to be comforted. He particularly fell in love with Andy, and was there holding him on multiple occasions. On April 16, 1997, due to complications from Congestive Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathy, Lloyd received the unselfish gift from a donor family of a heart transplant. He defied the odds by living with his new heart for 18 ½ years. His family will always be grateful to the anonymous donor family from this precious gift. The transplant has served him well but doesn't come without presenting other health challenges. He started dialysis last year on Christmas Eve determined to do all he could for his family. His body weakened and on the morning of Thursday, September 10 Gayle took him to the hospital where he peacefully died with Gayle, Courtney, Christen, Pastor Seth, and several close friends at his side.
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