Captain Thomas James Schultz Jr

The world has lost Captain Thomas James Schultz Jr. Surrounded by his family in his home, the tide took the captain out to sea on Tuesday, April 14, 2020. He was 87. Better known as Tommy or Captain Tommy, he spent much of his life on the water, serving four years in the Navy and then captaining two shrimping vessels for the next 40 years, the Snowdrift and then the Reva Rose. An accomplished chef with a love for the kitchen, Tommy’s seafood gumbo, jambalaya and coubion were known across the Gulf Coast, but his true passion was the water. He was around it all of his life, a third-generation fisherman whose father built his own boat at the age of 17. In 1973, Tommy became the first individual in Biloxi to own a steel hull lugger. The 76-foot long Reva Rose, named for his daughter and wife, was known for both its sheer usefulness and its community involvement. For many years, it served as the “Blessing Boat” in the annual Biloxi Blessing of the Fleet ceremony, the highlight of which came in 1983, when Tommy presided as Shrimp King. A story teller with real fish tales, Tommy was a pioneer in fisheries management, an innovator in fishing vessel efficiency and a trailblazer in shrimping productivity. Later in life, while working at Mississippi State University’s Coastal Research & Extension Center, Tommy became deeply involved in energy technology and fuel consumption monitoring in the Gulf. He was instrumental in the creation of the Turtle Excluder Device (TED), a mechanism that allows captured sea turtles to escape when caught in a fisherman’s net. At home, Tommy’s love for food extended out of the kitchen and into the yard. A passionate horticulturist, his garden featured overflowing fruit trees, giant cucumbers and hot peppers. The hard-working patriarch of a loving family, Tommy married Rose Ann Girouard in 1970, providing for her three children and, later, their daughter, Reva. A longtime member of Our Lady of Fatima parish, Tommy and his wife were avid churchgoers, attending weekly as generous members of the Biloxi community. Tommy was a key figure in Mississippi Gulf Coast seafood operations, and he was inducted in 2014 into the Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum Heritage Hall of Fame. He served in executive roles with the Bureau of Marine Resources, the Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Alliance, Biloxi Seafood Industry Museum and the Southeastern Fisheries Association. Tommy was preceded in death by parents, Thomas James Schultz, Sr. and Ophelia Quigley; sister Pat Rachuba (Charles); and brother-in-law Julius Broussard. He is survived by wife Rose Ann Schultz; sister Judy Broussard; daughters Rose Love Dellenger (Stanley), Dana Farris (Chris) and Reva Schultz Hopkins (Glenn); son Elliott Voivedich; grandchildren Ross Dellenger (Elizabeth), Evelyn Dellenger, Colton Farris, Chance Farris, Callie Farris and Ezra Hopkins; nephews Julius Broussard, Julian Broussard (Mary Beth) and James Patrick Broussard (Rachel); nieces Julie Suarez (Ronnie), JoEtta Burgamy (Bill) and Charlene Fortner (Ben); and many more nieces and nephews and beloved relatives. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Alliance and/or the Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum. At a later date, Tommy’s family will hold a boat procession to celebrate his life while aboard the Reva Rose on the Mississippi Sound, giving the captain one last comfortable ride across the water, where the tide will take him, eventually like us all, out to the unknown, to the vast, empty ocean. There is no man more fit for the afterlife than a captain on the high seas. Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home, Howard Avenue in Biloxi, is honored to serve this family.