Trudy Busch Schultz, loving wife, mother and grandmother, supporter of the arts, gardener and inspiring cook, died May 14 at age 88 surrounded by her family at home in Skillman, N.J.
Trudy was born Nov. 22, 1927, the daughter of Charlotte Ising Busch and Hermann Busch, who was the cellist in the Busch Quartet, one of the most prominent chamber music ensembles of the 20th century. The family lived in Essen and Stuttgart, Germany, before moving to Basel, Switzerland, in 1933 to escape the Nazi regime. The Busch parents and daughter emigrated to the United States in June 1940, sailing on the SS Washington from Lisbon, Portugal, narrowly escaping a hostile encounter with a German U Boat. The family lived in New York and Pittsburgh. Trudy attended Barnard College where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in fine art.
In 1950, Trudy took a job with the furniture company Knoll, where she worked in the Planning Unit and met the young furniture designer, Moses Richard Schultz. The two were married December 10, 1953, and after atwo-year work/honeymoon period in Europe settled in the rural hills of Barto, Pennsylvania, where they lived for many years, raising four children and creating a peaceful haven for family and friends. Trudy’s lovingly tendedvegetable and flower gardens nourished and inspired. She carried her love of music and design through her whole life. The family spent summers in Marlboro, Vermont, where they were enthusiastic supporters and audience members of the Marlboro Music Festival, which wasco-founded by her father and other members of the Busch family, with pianist Rudolph Serkin and the Marcel, Blanche and Louis Moyse family.
At home in Pennsylvania, Trudy gave generously to those around her. For several years, as Dick built his own company, she waitressed at a local restaurant. She volunteered in libraries and delivered for Meals on Wheels and helped found a Sister Cities program that connected residents of Boyertown, Pennsylvania, with those of Bohodukhiv, Ukraine, in the former Soviet Union, to sow seeds of peace. She was an early supporter of organic gardening, natural childbirth, breastfeeding, and Planned Parenthood. She brought a gentle, graceful touch to everything she did there and in Brattleboro, Vermont, where they lived for the last decade before their move in March 2016 to Stonebridge at Montgomery.
Trudy is survived by her husband and three sons, Peter, David and Steven Schultz and four grandchildren, Nora, Ruth, Trudy and Mateo. Their daughter, Monica, died in 2006. Memorial donations may be made to Marlboro Music Festival (https://www.marlboromusic.org/) or to any community charity.
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