CUMMINGTON — When Steve Magargal was 12-years-old, he caddied for George Shultz for the first time at the Worthington Golf Club, now The Links At Worthington. The pair would become good friends and years later Magargal, the owner and operator of Listons Bar & Grill, and Shultz, who served as secretary of state under President Ronald Reagan, played a final round of golf together. Shultz was 93 at the time.

“He almost shot his age,” said Magargal. “It was pretty impressive.”

Shultz died at the age of 100 on Saturday. In addition to serving as secretary of state under Reagan, he served as secretary of the treasury, director of the Office of Management and Budget and secretary of labor under President Richard Nixon. But the noted statesman also had a longtime connection with the Hilltowns, enjoying a summer property in Cummington that his family owns to this day.

Those in the Hilltowns who knew Shultz remembered him warmly.

“We respected their privacy,” said Select Board member Monica Vandoloski, on how the town treated Shultz and his family.

And she described how when Shultz and his family would go to the Cummington Fair, no one would bother them.

Vandoloski also noted how the family always contributed to the well-being of the Dawes Cemetery, where family members are buried and where she said there are plans for Shultz to be laid to rest as well. Shultz’s first wife, Helena Shultz, known as Obie, is buried there.

Shultz’s father, Birl Shultz, also served as a selectman in Cummington and served on the committee that built the Cummington Elementary School in 1951.

 Shultz was a member of the Worthington Golf Club, as well as being a member of such prestigious clubs as the Augusta National Golf Club and San Francisco Golf Club, Magargal said.

“He goes back in the Worthington Golf Club for years and years,” he said.

Magargal said everyone treated Shultz like a regular person at the club, although he also noted their games were often accompanied by Secret Service protection.

“They were actually in front of us when we played with him,” said Magargal, describing an occasion when the Cabinet was under threat.

He also recalled how in 1992, Shultz overheard that Magargal and a friend would be flying out to California to watch golf’s U.S. Open. Shultz said to call him when he was in California and that he would take care of him.

Magargal did so, and Shultz informed him that he could spend a day playing at the San Francisco Golf Club for free.

“Because we were Mr. Shultz’s guests people treated us like royalty,” he said.

Magargal also noted how he and his friend and his friend’s brother weren’t allowed to pay for anything.

“I left him with quite a bar tab,” Magargal said, of the former secretary of state. “Which he brought up a few times.”

He also shared how Shultz flew down members of the club to play with him at Augusta National, including Magargal’s late uncle George Bartlett.

Jeanette Horton worked for the Shultz family for decades in Cummington as a cleaner, retiring in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“He always appreciated all the work we did for him,” said Horton. “He was really wonderful.”

She said that her last memory of Shultz was sharing ice cream with him and his family in October 2019.

“They’re a wonderful family,” said Horton.

Roxanne Kellogg also used to work as a cleaner for the Shultzes.

“It’s a sad, sad thing,” said Kellogg, of Shultz’s passing. “I thought he was a really nice person.”

Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.]]>