RIP Brian Schultz (@auricgoldfinger)

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Brian Phillip Schultz, 61, passed away peacefully on September 21, 2023, from ALS. He spent his final days surrounded by family in beautiful Switzerland. 

Brian had a wonderful life growing up in Houston with his mother and father, Leah and Billy Schultz, and his two sisters, Wendy and Lauren. He was a straight-A student, in part due to financial incentives provided by his grandfather. He loved sports and played football, basketball, and baseball after school almost every day with his good friends in Meyerland.  

Brian’s first love was baseball. As a kid, he was an Astros Buddy, and his parents would drop him off at the Astrodome to watch Astros games. He was a pitcher at Bellaire High School into his junior year, when arm trouble and loss of command forced him into retirement. After prodding from his girlfriend, Brian agreed to try out for cheerleader and was elected by the student body. He loved being a cheerleader during his senior year. 

After graduating from Bellaire in 1979, Brian went to UT Austin to pursue a career in medicine. His plans were derailed when his close friend and roommate, Mike Segal, was shot in the head during an attempted convenience store robbery during their sophomore year. The remainder of Brian’s undergraduate experience was difficult as he struggled with severe depression. Brian managed to graduate with honors in December 1982, but he lost interest in becoming a doctor. 

During the summer after graduation, Brian met the love of his life, Dixon Presswood, at Confetti, a popular Houston nightclub at the time. Brian was so smitten that he told his mother the next morning he had met the woman he was going to marry. Brian and Dixon had a passionate, year-long affair in Houston before Dixon went to NYU for her M.B.A. and Brian headed to Harvard for a Ph.D. in molecular biology. Thankfully, the telecommunications and airline industries were being deregulated at the time, enabling them to stay in regular contact with 10-cent per minute long distance charges from MCI and $60 round-trip fares on People Express. They both ultimately returned to Houston and were married on May 27, 1990. 

Brian quickly realized that looking for eye mutations in Drosophila was not his cup of tea. He withdrew from Harvard and returned to UT Austin for his M.B.A. Upon graduating in 1987, he joined the management consulting practice in the Houston office of Touche Ross (later Deloitte). He worked there for 6 years, learning from amazing mentors and making many lifelong friends. 

Shortly after leaving Deloitte, Brian’s father encouraged him to visit a small brokerage in the Houston Galleria where a handful of people were day trading stocks. Much to his surprise, Brian discovered most of these traders were making money, so he decided to give it a try. After 3 years, Brian branched off into futures trading. Since the brokerage did not have a futures business, Brian became a pioneer, setting up a trading desk at home in the early days of the internet long before the advent of the online trading and investing. He continued trading up to the time of his ALS diagnosis. 

Dixon and Brian shocked their families and friends in late 1998 when they announced she was pregnant, since everyone always assumed they would never have children. Brian was a very proud and dedicated father to their son, Austin. Once again, Brian became a pioneer when he decided to be a stay-at-home dad so that Austin would always have a parent around after school and on holidays. Brian took great pride in cooking high quality, made-from-scratch dinners for Austin most weeknights, just as his mother had done for him, and having deep discussions about the world, just as he had done with his own father. 

Brian was an audiophile who loved listening to music. He separately amassed and sold two large collections of LPs and eventually acquired a similarly large number of compact discs. In recent years, he built a vast library of high-resolution digital music. Brian was also a foodie who sought out the best restaurants in Houston and wherever he traveled. At home, he had a carefully curated collection of fine single malt whisky from Scotland, which he often enjoyed as an apéritif before dinner. 

A life-long gym rat, Brian took up Olympic weightlifting in his 50s. It was his passion later in life, and he was an advanced masters lifter when ALS forced him to retire. 

Brian loved dogs, including his four bichons. He would not hesitate to pet any dog. 

Brian is predeceased by his father, William Melvin Schultz. He is survived by his beloved wife of 33 years, Dixon Presswood Schultz; his son Austin Connor Schultz; his mother Leah Gansar Schultz; his sisters Wendy Mehling and Lauren Hampton (Jake); his brother-in-law Chris Mehling; his parents-in-law Olive Allen Hughes (Lynn) and Ronald Presswood (Judy); his brothers-in-law Ronald Presswood, Jr. (Barbie), Scott Dyer (Nadja), and Steven Dyer (Christine); his sisters-in-law, Lindsey Hughes and Kathryn Dyer Bendheim (Tom) ; and many nieces and nephews.  

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the ALS Association. 

A funeral service will take place at 10:30 am on Tuesday, October 3, 2023 in The Bender Memorial Chapel at Beth Yeshurun Post Oak Cemetery, 7445 Awty School Ln., Houston, Texas 77055. The Service will also be livestreamed at https://venue.streamspot.com/f8d04b5b

 

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https://www.houstonjewishfunerals.com/obituaries/Brian-Schultz-3/#!/Obituary

Such a heartbreaking loss.  I got to know Brian initially through his posts on here.  He was always kind and always willing to share insights that could help others gain greater enjoyment of their music.  
 

I got to get to know Brian a bit better through us both being PGGB beta testers.  I feel blessed that I got that opportunity.  He was truly a special person.  I regret that I never got the chance to meet him in person.