DGE 5390
Kathy Schulte
Club: Missoula
Born in New Jersey and lived there until I traveled to Missoula, MT to attend the University of Montana.
I Graduated from Ridge High School in 1970 located in Basking Ridge, NJ. A couple of High School tidbits…. I played my guitar for my church in a “Folk Band”, I was a gymnast, was Prom Queen and was voted “most polite” in my senior year and then off to U of Montana in September!
I attended school for 2-years and got married. Then it took me nearly 20-years to return in 1990 when I completed my degree in Business with an emphasis in Finance.
During that 20-year break from school, I obtained my Real Estate license where I had the great fortune of becoming an active businessperson in the Missoula community, and soon after became a Real Estate Broker and company trainer, until the banking business wooed me away!
Initially I was in the residential mortgage market – where I worked as an originator for several years, and then began to travel the state and train other residential lenders around the state in federal housing programs. I worked in this area for several years and I built a training program for Western Federal Savings & Loan, who actually purchased the book from me prior to me returning to the University.
During my two final years at the university, I was again fortunate to work with two wonderful professors and Rotarians. It was a very difficult time, my 2-kids, Jesse and Jodi were now in middle school, so I remember putting them to bed around 8, putting on a pot of coffee and working on my studies late into the night, and then up again early to get the kids to school, and go to work at several part-time jobs and then off to my classes.
It was after I graduated that I made a deal with a local bank president to set up his residential mortgage department in return for him teaching me commercial lending. So that is where my banking career began and ran until 2016 when I left the banking world and got my professional designation as a Certified Valuation Analyst. I am such a number nurd, that I loved the challenge of converting Income Statements and Balance Sheets into Market Values for Businesses.
This wonderful new venture did not last as long as I would have liked, for I lost my parents, my husband got cancer and then came COVID…. So, I did what I thought would be the best and Retired!!!
I still haven’t figured out what that is supposed to actually mean! I am as busy as ever with my Rotary Club (joined in 2005) work as Treasurer, my District Secretary duties and, most importantly, I am a proud Uber Grandma who fetches the kids after school several times a week. For fun, I love to play my guitar regularly and play with my sister-in-law who will be the new President of my Rotary Club starting July 1. I have recently started playing music at my church! …Plus, I am hoping it’s good for my brain! I also love to walk, no longer able to run with my bionic knees, but walking, hiking and being outdoors takes my breath away! (especially if I try to climb the M overlooking the University in Missoula) Also, I love to dry herbs… each year I plant Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Basil, Oregano, plus and assortment of pepper plants…. Then mix them together into secret blends which are quite tasty.
The rest of my life is one of joy and happiness. I have an amazing family and wonderful friends. I have seven grandchildren ages 8-19. My siblings moved their families to Columbia Falls and have repopulated the area with my nieces and nephews. My brother and sister have 200+ acres adjacent to each other, that is like heaven on earth. I love spending time up in the Flathead Valley (north of Missoula) to visit and watch the kids’ sporting events (Go Wildcats!) Five of my grandkids are in Florence, (a few miles south of my home) so I get to see them much more than my two granddaughters in Columbia Falls.
My kids are wonderful adults, for which I am blessed. Jodi is the Nursing Director and Big Sky Surgery Center in Missoula, and Jesse is a Financial Advisor in Columbia Falls, retired as a major in the Army where he served in Iraq as a Blackhawk Helicopter pilot.
I also have a Pakistani family. My host son-Asad, married Dr. Farah Chohan. They have a beautiful 19-month-old daughter. I went to Pakistan in March of 2019 for Asad’s wedding, and was honored as though I was Asad’s real mom. Farah will be starting her 3rd year of Resident training at Larkin Hospital in Miami, Florida. Asad was recently hired to work for the University of Miami. He has his master’s in public administration that he received from the University of Montana in 2017.
And finally, last but not least, my husband Bob, has been a wonderful blessing and a friend. We will be celebrating 25 years together in February 2025.
Anyway, that’s me….