Walt Schaefer died peacefully at home surrounded by family on May 29, 2023. He was a long time fixture in the motorcycle racing community as a great friend, a competitive racer, and as a racing tire distributor.
He was born in Cleveland, Ohio on May 12, 1947 before moving to Gadsden Alabama, six months later. He served in the Navy during Vietnam, running hundreds of combat missions up the rivers on a PBR boat earning a Navy Commendation Medal For Valor in Combat for meritorious service.
Upon returning to the USA, he began racing motorcycles on Yamahas, Triumphs, and Harley-Davidsons. His passion for the sport became a career when in the late 1970 he began distributing Michelin racing motorcycle tires. He could often be spotted at the motorcycle tracks of the South East, sometime accompanied by one or both of his daughters Lauren and Katie, good naturedly mounting tires while Walt gave motorcycle advice until his retirement in 2015.
He was a man of many talents and hobbies.
He was a talented and experienced guitar player in styles varying from classical to blues to Flaminco. He even collaborated with other racers in a blues band, The Bad Pit Stop Band. He loved to travel to many places including Spain and Costa Rico. He also enjoyed long journeys to the American West to explore and fish for trout. He built his own drift boat from scratch and relished performing stunts in his aerobatic biplane.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Dorinda Schaefer in 2016 and is survived by his daughters Lauren and Katie Schaefer as well as his late life partner, Della Bluemly.
Memorial Service will be from 11 until 4pm Sunday, June 4, 2023 at Noccalula Falls Pavilion 3 in Gadsden.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.morganfuneralchapel.com for the Schaefer family.
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