PORT ANGELES — The Captain Joseph House, which has been in the progress since its 2014 groundbreaking, will host an open house today and Monday.
Army Captain Joseph Schultz died in Afghanistan in 2011 after joining the military following 9/11. His mother, Betsy Reed Schultz, then began to convert her Tudor-style bed-and-breakfast into a respite center for families mourning loved ones who had been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
During Sunday’s ceremonies at the house at 1108 S. Oak St., speakers will include U. S. Rep. Derek Kilmer of the 6th Congressional Distract, which includes Clallam County; two who survived the attack that killed Joseph Schultz; and the former president of the Washington State American Gold Star Mothers.
Schultz and others will recite the Pledge of Allegiance shortly after the program begins at 2 p.m. House tours, with face masks required, are planned from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tours will continue from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday.
South Oak Street, in front of the house, will be closed with a large tent, and neighborhood parking will be limited. A shuttle to and from the Clallam County Courthouse parking lot at Fourth and Peabody is available on Sunday only beginning at 12:30 p.m.
Schultz said that nearly 11 years ago, she had pledged to her son that if he died during his military tour in Afghanistan — he had already served two tours in Iraq — she would “not die with him but honor him by finding purpose.”
“Today and Monday, the public can see this mother’s allegiance to that pledge,” Schultz said.
After her son’s death, Schultz created the nonprofit Captain Joseph House Foundation, of which she is the executive director and lone paid official, to remodel the building and offer the nation’s only family-to-family program of its kind to honor Gold Star Families of the Fallen.
The date for beginning to accept families depends upon the pandemic, Schultz has said.
“Gold Star Families will be invited when it is safe to gather under one roof,” she said.
When operational, the foundation will cover transportation, meals, and recreational opportunities for three families to spend Sundays to Fridays at the house.
That house has been upgraded by 31,000 volunteer hours and $556,248 the foundation has spent so far on the project, Schultz said.
To more, go to www.CaptainJosephHouse Foundation.org or call Schultz at 360-460-7848.
