‘No one could ever fill their seat’: Wears Valley church mourns couple killed in house fire

What This Story Is About

• A Wears Valley couple, Bobby and Donna Schultz, died after a house fire on Willow Tree Road early Sunday morning. The couple were longtime members of Wears Valley United Methodist Church.

Why It Matters

• Donna and Bobby Schultz were described by their pastor and fellow church members as central figures in a small congregation, around 60 people on a given Sunday.

What Happens Next

• The cause of the fire is still under investigation, according to the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office.

WEARS VALLEY, Tenn. — The members of Wears Valley United Methodist Church is mourning two of its longtime members after a house fire killed a couple over the weekend.

Sevier County Fire and Rescue got a call around 6 a.m. Sunday about a house fire on Willow Tree Road in Wears Valley. Crews arrived to find the home in flames with Bobby and Donna Schultz inside.

Both were rushed to LeConte Medical Center, where they later died. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Decades at the church

Donna Schultz was born and raised in Sevier County and grew up in Wears Valley United Methodist Church. Members say she was part of the congregation for most of her life.

She worked as a teacher’s aide at Wearwood Elementary School and was a supporter of the Sevier County school system. She also taught the church’s children’s Sunday school class.

Bobby Schultz was an Army veteran who rarely missed the church’s monthly veterans breakfast.

Pastor Richard Rudisill said the couple’s loss was significant for the congregation.

“It was just such a massive blow to our congregation to lose them yesterday morning,” Rudisill said.

Rudisill said the couple were known for greeting people with a smile at every church service.

“I hope that everything we do as a church will reflect not only on Jesus and what he did, but will honor and remember people like Donna and Bobby,” Rudisill said.

Church members react

Church member Emily Palmer said Bobby and Donna were among the first people to welcome her and her husband when they joined the congregation about three years ago.

“No one could ever fill their seat in the pew, the light that they brought to our church,” Palmer said.

Palmer said the couple’s absence was noticeable, including among the church’s children.

“They knew yesterday, where’s Miss Donna? Where did Donna go? And they could sense that there was an absence,” Palmer said.

Palmer said she found comfort in knowing the couple died together.

“It’s comforting to know that neither one of them had to be on this earth without the other,” Palmer said. “I don’t know what I would do without Bobby. I don’t know what I would do without Donna.”

Palmer said it is now up to the church to continue what the couple started.

“No one can replace them. And our job is to continue on their legacy — to love like they did, and to treat people like they did, and to bring people in,” Palmer said.

What’s next

The family has not yet announced service arrangements. The church said it may honor the couple during its Wednesday night service. Updates are expected to be posted on the Wears Valley Methodist Church Facebook page.