Alice Schultz opened her 1st senior citizen's home to pay for her children's education; now she runs six

Alice Schultz started a nursing home 38 years ago with the modest goal of paying for her children’s education.

Then a 37-year-old housewife, Schultz had dabbled in real estate but knew nothing about running such a place. Undeterred, she and her first husband, Emmett Koelsch, bought a building in Kelso and moved into its basement with their four daughters.

There she reared children and built a business. It made for a lot of cooking, making beds and washing clothes. "I knew I could do a lot of grunt work...,”she said. "And I was happy to do that. And I’m forever glad that I did because I’ve learned the business.”

Almost four decades later, Schultz owns six senior facilities including two in Vancouver – The Cascade Inn and the Hampton Care Center, both in Cascade Park – and the others in Olympia and Tacoma.

The $10 million, 107-room Bedford retirement apartments on McGillivray Boulevard is her latest and most costly venture to date. The project is scheduled to be finished next spring.

With light blond hair and radiant skin, Schultz looks at least a decade younger than her 74 years. She lives with her husband of 12 years, Bob Schultz, a retired anesthesiologist, in a two-bedroom apartment in the Cascade Inn. The couple met when she bought Schultz’ Mercedes-Benz. She teases that he married her so he could get his car back. They also own a home on Mason Lake near Shelton, where she spends time with her 11 grandchildren.

All of Schultz’ children work in the business. A child of the Depression, Schultz grew up poor in Coos Bay. She never made it past high school. She appreciates what she has accomplished but never takes it for granted. "I know what it is to have little or nothing, believe me,” she said. "I always tell my children, ‘Don’t ever get your state of mind so fixed on things of this world that if you were to have it all taken from you tomorrow you couldn’t live in a tent if you needed to.’”

Schultz believes that with any successful business there is always someone who never turns their back on what’s happening. She confesses that at times she’s too much of a perfectionist. She’s fussy about cleanliness at her retirement homes. And she’s adamant that residents are treated with respect.

Her only son, Aaron Koelsch of Olympia, believes part of her success comes from her drive to be first in everything. But some of the most important lessons he has learned from his mother had nothing to do with business, said Koelsch, 34, who owns and manages several adult care facilities in Washington and California and one day will run his mother’s businesses.

Fifteen years ago, one of Koelsch’s best college friends lost a parent to suicide and struggled financially. Quietly, with no prodding and without telling her son, Schultz began to send his friend $150.00 a month. He didn’t find out until a few years ago. "My mother has given examples of what not to do as all parents do,” he said. "But I think she has given us more in examples of what to do.”

Koelsch, who describes his mother’s business style as "hands-on, a micromanager,” said she thrives on her work. Every day she visits the Bedford construction site like a mother hen waiting to see her latest hatchling.

The Bedford will be slightly more upscale than her previous ventures and will have such amenities as a covered swimming pool and a putting green. A one-person studio apartment, including a Continental breakfast and dinner five days a week, will cost about $1290.00 a month, Schultz said. Koelsch doesn’t see his mother stepping down any time soon. "She really enjoys it and gets a good deal of energy from doing it,” he said. "She’s quite competitive.”