Richard M. Schultz II
Year Inducted: 2019
Honomalino Ranch | Hawai'i
Daleico Ranch | Hawai'i
Richard Max Johannes Schultz II was born on January 30th, 1928 in Honolulu. He lived on O‘ahu until he was 6 years old when he moved with his mother and stepfather to Canton, Ohio. It was the Great Depression and his stepfather was searching for work. Richard lived on the Mainland until he finished the 7th grade. He was sent back to O‘ahu to live with his grandmother in Kaimukī where he finished high school.
Richard first began to work with horses as a teenager with the Gomes family who ran the riding academy and stables at Koko Crater. During war time in the islands, no one could be out after 6 PM, so Richard could only work at the stables on the weekend. His time was spent shoveling manure, cleaning stalls, and feeding and caring for the horses in the 12-stall barn. Richard learned how to ride and shoe horses working at Koko Crater Stables.
After he graduated from Roosevelt High School, Richard attended the University of California at Davis. He studied animal science in a two-year program learning about livestock and pasture management. In 1951 while at UC Davis, Richard met his future wife Florence McCorriston. She was also from the islands and was studying animal science at the University. They studied at UC Davis for two years and moved back home in 1953.
After moving back to the islands, Richard got a job working at a feed warehouse packing feed into bags. He recalls: “There was no such thing as a 50-lb bag back then, everything was 100-lbs, and that was real hard work.” Through his connections at the feed warehouse, he discovered a job opportunity working on the Big Island. He flew up to Kona and met with the owners of a coffee farm located in Honomalino in the Kona district. Richard took the job managing the coffee farm. He moved to Hawaiʻi island where he lived in a small house on the property with water catchment and no electricity. He cooked on an outdoor stove that he built himself. It was around this time that he met Robert Leighton Hind II, or Bobby as was known. Bobby was managing Honomalino Ranch and would stop by often to visit Richard, which usually included a few drinks. When Bobby took a management position at McCandless Ranch, he asked Richard to take his place in management at Honomalino Ranch.
After ranching at Honomalino for a few years, Bobby asked Richard to consider taking on the management of a new start-up ranch that Bobby and his partner Hebden Porteus called Daleico Ranch. The property was 240 acres with 60 head of cattle and was located in the Ka‘ū District. Richard and his wife Flo moved to Ka‘ū in January 1959, and Ka‘ū has been their home ever since. Richard managed Daleico Ranch for 44 years until his retirement in 2003 at the age of 75.
He believes that his greatest accomplishment in ranching was growing and expanding Daleico Ranch. He helped to grow the ranch from 60 to 900 head of cattle, established grazing systems, water systems, and put in miles of fencing. He helped to create a top performing breeding program that produced quality bulls. Daleico Ranch often took the top spot at the Waimea bull sale.
Richard was involved in the Hawai‘i Cattlemen Producer’s Co-op and supported all endeavors of the Hawai‘i cattle industry throughout his lifetime. Much of his involvement was due to the influence of his industrious wife and her passion for cattle ranching. Daleico Ranch faced many challenges over the years including extensive drought conditions, but Richard remained steadfast through it all. He is a true cattleman and often says of his time in the industry that “ranching was the best years of my life.”