Florence M. Schultz
Year Inducted: 2002
Hawaii Cattle Producers Co-op | Hawaii Cattlemen's Association
Florence Schultz grew up with cattle in her life, traveling from Honolulu to Molokai to help with her family’s ranch.
In an era when society still expected women to limit themselves to education, nursing or few other professions, Florence got a degree in animal science from the University of California at Davis, and returned to Molokai where she worked as a meat inspector. “I think she was probably the first female meat inspector on Molokai,” says her husband Richard Schultz.
Marriage brought a new family-focused life, but Florence never walked away from the ranching industry. Some say she was the spark of Hawaii's cattle ranching industry for years, as secretary of the Hawaii Cattlemen’s Association from 1968, and executive secretary of the Hawaii Cattle Producers Co-op from 1984.
“When she ran, for 16 years, this island organization, it ran like clockwork,” he says.
Florence was named the state’s Cattlewoman of the Year in 1983 by the federal land bank for her work.
But it was her own husband who paid her the highest compliment worthy of the best of ranch managers: “She made sure things got done,” Richard says.