Darren Royce Schultz

24th May 1977 - 25th July 2000

for his mother Carol, father Barry, sisters Joanne and Debora (and her husband John and son Athan) and - for Darren.

Darren was born at Box Hill Hospital on the 24th of May 1977 and he grew up in Selkirk Ave Wantirna. Box Hill was the suburb where Mum and Dad met. Mum was the Dental Nurse, Dad was the patient... Darren could not have had a more romantic and loving start to life.

One of my earliest memories of Darren was the time he went to greet me through the fence on his first day at Kindergarten (Clarekirk Kindergarten on Wantirna Road). Being the boy that Darren was, he was not happy with a simple wave through the wire mesh.

No, Darren had to climb over the fence. As he reached the top, he leaned out for me and toppled over face first onto the concrete below. Since then I think he quickly learned that a fence was never going to stop him.

After kindergarten Darren attended Marlborough Primary School where he met some of his life-long friends that are in attendance today. I'm sure that these friends quickly realised that if they were to hang out with Darren, they were bound to have a good time.

There is no possible way that I could summarise the events or feelings of his six years in primary school, but let me say this... If you asked any one of his teachers if they remember Darren Schultz, you would not hear the word "no". In fact Mum and Dad actually became quite good friends with a number of Darren's teachers as a result of his good-hearted mischief.

I'll bet some of his teachers still giggle to themselves today at the thought of Little-Dazza's antics.

After primary school Darren attended a number of high schools. The first of which was Frank Dando's Sports Academy. The regime at this school was strictly energetic: Judo, Swimming, Mathematics and Boy-fun. Darren was a rare student that swam over ninety laps of fifty metres in one hour - an achievement to be proud of.

He was also one of the students that used to come home and try his new Judo moves out on his brother and sisters. Darren competed in, and won, a number of judo tournaments and he was about to enter into an Australia-wide judo championship if it weren't for an elbow injury.

In year 9, Darren decided that high school wasn't enough and that he needed to get out into the real world. Dad said, "OK, if you get a job, you can leave school". To Dad's surprise, Darren found employment within his first day of job-hunting! He then worked a diverse range of occupations: mechanic, furniture spray-painter, asphalt driveway specialist, landscape gardener, arborculturalist... You name it, Darren would have probably dabbled in it. Before completing his landscape gardening apprenticeship, Darren started his own business: "The Best Landscaping and Garden Maintenance Services". The title was appropriate. He truly was The Best. If one blade of grass or one leaf was out of place, Darren would either make sure that it was instantly fixed, or if he felt the job wasn't right, he would provide a discount rate.

In his every pursuit, Darren pushed his absolute limit. Whether it be skateboarding, motor-bike riding, skiing, making music, setting off fireworks, having fun, or whatever.

Darren stood out as the guy that would go faster, higher, harder, further, and louder, than everyone else.

As with the portrait of Darren above, you can view a larger version of the skiing photo by simply clicking on the picture

Ask any of his friends, family, and associates, and they would all have a story that would either make you smile, make you fall down in fits of laughter, or make your jaw drop. I'm glad to say that I was lucky enough to be there for many of those times, and for those times that I wasn't, I have his good friends and family to tell me about them.

Heroin came onto the scene in about 1997 and heroin was more powerful than Darren could have ever imagined. I guess since he had already managed to defy nearly all the laws of physics and life, he didn't see any harm in trying it - he only saw a new experience.

After pushing the limit for close to three years, Darren eventually realised that he needed to get away, so he shifted to the Blue Mountains to live with me and two good friends. Within one day of arrival, the local people knew that Dazza Schultz was in town.

A passage from Andre Olson, a best friend of Darren and mine, summarises Darren's time with us in the mountains. I believe it describes Darren as the Dazza that he was...

"He was living life one thousand miles a minute. Always on the run, looking for ways he could get himself in and out of trouble. Until he burst the bubble...I'm going to miss him. I'll remember him the best way I know how - when he was most alive. Drinking beer, smoking pipes amongst his friends, hovering 800 metres above Sydney, away from the boredom that lies still over the flat lands of suburbia. The place synonymous with his boredom, the place that caged him up, that made him pace back and forth...

So we are above it all, at Kurrajong Heights, still drinking beer and Darren is screaming his own name with more life and vigour than all of us sitting around him. Yelling at life, making an impression into the mountains before us with the convictions of his words. Letting his words ride on the winds through the Woolamai valleys, throwing the base of his voice into the setting sun. Trying as hard as he could to stop time: " I'M DAAAAZZZZZZAA SCHUUULTZ !!! " Getting higher. Rushing. Feeling more empowered with every time he yells his own name out. He was really living then, for the moment and for the NOW !!!"

Its true to say that I have not, and could not, fully describe the man `DAZZA'. Though I am honoured to say that I was lucky enough to be a true brother of Darren, and that I had the opportunity to provide you with this glimpse of Darren's Life.

Think of all the mischief that you ever wanted to get away with. Think of all the fun times that you ever wanted to have. Think of all the love you ever wanted to give. Think of all the love you ever wanted to receive. Now add it all and multiply by infinity, and absolutely jam-pack the result into 23 years of a young man's life. That was Dazza ! - the fastest, funniest, naughtiest, strongest, most extreme, and most wholesome brother that I have ever met and will ever meet. Nothing could stop him and nobody can replace him. Dazza did what Dazza wanted to do, and whether they liked it or not, everybody knew that.

The year 2000 could not have been a better year to go. The day Tuesday could not have been a better day - Darren hated Mondays.

Ashes to Ashes
Dust to Dust
Rest in Peace

Go Dazza !!!!!!!!