Unfortunately, I have to report that Jim Schatz has passed away. He served his country as a paratrooper and later, became a legend in the small arms industry.
I first met Jim while he was at H&K. He ran one helluva a weapons demo and was extremely knowledgeable about small arms as well as the US military’s acquisition of them.
He will be missed.
Tags: Jim Schatz
Oh man, I just finished reading a lot of his presentations from the past couple of years on the NDIA website. The guy had very strong and well founded beliefs about fielding an intermediate caliber weapon for overmatch capability.
Rest In Peace Jim. Terrible loss.
Indeed. RIP
Jim was a knowledgable easy going individual. It was a pure pleasure to work with such a professional. There will never be another one like him. RiP old Soldier.
Had several conversations with Jim when he was at HK USA. Very knowledgeable and friendly. Rest in peace.
Rest In Peace
I hope they use that photo in his home town obituary… …because it’s awesome.
Wow;
What a fine American. I dealt with him on the XM-8 project, with our Bayonet.
A true small arms expert. Jim R.I.P.
Jim was such the professional. The most highly respected in our industry.
He was a great American and friend.
He will be missed forever by us all.
God Speed Jim Schatz.
Jim was a very knowledgeable individual on HK small arms history and I remember having long talks with him about the development of different weapons. His presentation on caseless ammo is superb and I highly recommend it. I’m sure it’s somewhere out in Googleland. RIP Jim.
Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Jim taught me how to sell. He was a great confidante from my time in the Weapons Developer Position at USASOC thru my own turmoils and then taught me what “Showmanship” was supposed to look like. I worked directly for him at HK for 4 years as well as a “Consultant” and he is responsible for bringing more Muslim Terrorists to justice (death) than many will know (but I do) as an enabler of justice and all things right. He was, and remains the best in the business. Bar None.
RLTW and AATW Jimbo. I love you and always will Brother.
Dammit, Dammit.
Chaz
Thank you for your tribute to my brother. He made us so proud of the man he became in the 82nd Airborne, his commitment and love of his work at H&K and the company he began and the wonderful reputation he held. He will be missed by so many and loved eternally.
Jim Schatz’s funeral service will be at 4pm on March 25 at Saint Peter’s Episcopal church. 37018 Glendale St. Purcellville VA. A reception will follow in the hall at the church
Rest in peace, Jim Shatz. Thank you for your service. May peace now, be with you. God bless you, & your family, & friends.
Jim Schatz’s funeral service has been slipped to 4:30pm on March 25.
I have always been so Proud of my son, Jim for the Man he was and all the Respect he earned thru his life and Career. He touched so many Lives in so many ways. I, as his Mom, can only Thank You All for your Kindness in our time of Sadness. We will Miss Him in so many ways, but all the Memories will help Us Heal this Loss in Time. God is with Him now and he has found Peace
Thank you all so much for the wonderful words you have spoken about my brother. Your memories are a window into this part of my brothers world, and so appreciated. If any of you make it to Jim’s Memorial Saturday, Please say hello, my family and I would enjoy meeting you all !
So sad to hear of Jim’Shore passing. Jim did so much to enhance NDIA. His presentations were always interesting and controversial and made us do a lot of soul searching and deep thinking. His leadership of the live fire demonstrations made for safe and informative experiences with the weapon systems in use and in development. We have lost a true patriot and American hero.
My condolences to the family.
May he now rest in peace.
Jeff at HKPRO established a memorial in Jim’s name. It’s a cause that Jim believed strongly in, and continued. I had the opportunity to meet him last fall, in support of this cause, and as a result, my son and I are better people for meeting him. We truly lost a great man.
https://www.gofundme.com/jim-schatz-memorial
I have never known you, but through the Wellesley College connection I have, I was deeply shocked and saddened to hear this news. I know his niece loved him dearly and my heart aches for her and also for his family. Please rest in peace, and may God be with you in heaven.
Jim’s funeral service has slipped once again to 5:30pm, reportedly due to the anticipated attendance.
It is still at Saint Peter’s Episcopal church, 37018 Glendale St., Purcellville, VA. A reception will follow in the hall at the church
A link to Jim’s obituary: http://hallfh.com/obituaries/james-r-schatz-jr/475/
Thank you Sir, for sharing that.
Jim,
You were an incredible mentor and friend to so many. So many lives were touched so positively by you. You will be dearly missed my friend. My deepest condolences to your family. Rest In Peace brother! Much love. Wayne
EZEKIEL 37
3″ And He said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.
4 Again He said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
5 Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
13 And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.”
Revelation 21:4
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
I first met Jim Schatz more that 31 years ago when we were both starting out at HK-USA.
Jim was truly one of the greats in this industry — an innovator responsible for many HK products including the MP5K-PDW, many of the features of the USP, and much of the HK416 — this program would never have happened without Jim!
And many, many other contributions too numerous to mention. He touched so many lives in a positive way.
He was also a man of great integrity and honesty…no better friend.
Jim, you will be missed!
Steve Galloway
I have several debts that cannot be repaid to Jim as he was the man that showed me what a firearm contractor is supposed to look like when I was a newly minted Acquisition Corps Officer. Together we tried to provide the Army with a new carbine but ultimately provided them a new grenade launcher. Several years later upon retirement he guided me to my first (and current) job in the Industry. Always a force for properly equipping the American Soldier, Marine, and Operator, his quest to achieve a ballistic over-match for any American foe will some day be realized because of his passion. The wisdom, motivation and commitment of this effective and humble mentor will be greatly missed.
I never personally knew Jim, but I will miss him all the same. Being a continous lurker at HKPRO I have found myself since 2009/2010 always skipping dozens of other peoples responses and posts to see what he had to say on the matter. For a man I never met, he had my utmost confidence. I wish I had the opportunity to meet him.
I first met Jim over 30 years ago while on active duty in the Marines as a 2111 armorer, later I became a 2112 Precision Weapons. I had taken several HK armorer classes. Later Jim helped me put a package together in 1989 for the TAFT Saudi Arabia, which later became Desert Shield/ Desert Storm, which we purchased MP5’s and HK tools and gauges for armorer classes, Jim put the whole package together and we picked it up 2 days later and deployed to Saudi Arabia. My last 3 years I often spent time testing HK products for the Marines, Jim was always a phone call away, assisted in every aspect of testing. We stayed in touch and eventually after I retired I worked with Jim on the FBI 10MM MP5’s and then was hired full time to be part of the A Team at HK. (I was hired as military sales for the Marines and Air Force, but still believe Jim hired me as a armorer/gunsmith. Jim always had the highest of work ethics. I will always be honored to have worked with him as everything was at the highest standard. Jim was usually the first one in and last to leave. Jim had the safest and best range demo that he was very proud of. He constantly gave his opinion which was valued by many. You could always see him writing articles on several aspects of firearms, not just the history, but ergonomics, accuracy, functioning, reliability.Jim was HK, he did many things that never got noticed behind the scenes. He was and always will be my brother in many ways. We worked hard and played harder. There are many, many good stories with him, he treated everyone with respect and was also well respected by everyone. Still hard to imagine he is gone, but he will NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.
Thanks Tom!
I only met Jim once, at the HK booth at SHOT a few years ago. Despite only having met him once, I felt like I’d known him for years. Years of communicating with him on HKPRO. Like so many others have said, Jim was a wealth of information on all things related to small arms, and specifically all things HK.
Rest in Peace Jim
Condolences to the family on behalf of the members of the Military Marksmanship Association. Taps, present arms.
Rob Harbison
President
Military Marksmanship Association
Our community is diminished by the loss of our friend.
Capturing the full value of Jim’s contributions would be difficult, if not impossible.
Rest in peace, Jim. We will enjoy a beer together again some time.