Gene Schaffer

Eugene (Gene) Schaffer who lived in Stamford, CT for 46 years, died peacefully at his home. He was 88 years old. Gene grew up through high school in Allentown, PA where he played basketball and swam on the state championship swim team at Allentown High School. He specialized in long distance free style. He put in one semester at the University of Notre Dame before entering the Army in February 1943. He served as a Paratrooper with the 11th Airborne Division in the Pacific Area. He recently, out of nostalgia visited Fort Benning, Georgia where he took his training in parachuting. He was a life long learner and at the advanced age of 68 received a Master of Arts in Theology degree at Notre Dame. He also attended classes at Harvard Medical School, the University of Southern California, Fairfield University, Muhlenberg University, and Sacred Heart University. Following graduation from Notre Dame in 1949, Gene worked for nearly fifty years in the newspaper business, 30 of them with The New York Times. He was Promotion Manager of the New York Times Western Edition, a key staff member of Promotion in New York. He also worked for the Houston Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Mirror, and the Riverside California Press Enterprise. He was a Vice President of the American Newspaper Promotion Association. He was a heart and soul University of Notre Dame Football fan; it was do or die every Saturday of the season. Gene felt his proudest accomplishment was his family. He was happily married 58 years to Sarah Anne Kathleen Smith of Texas. Kathleen also was a life long learner – a graduate from St. Mary’s College of Notre Dame, Indiana, received a Master Degree in Nutrition at New York University and a Dietetic Internship at Yale New Haven Medical Center. Together they brought into the world five children – Scott, Jack, Kevin, Peter and Mary. From there came much adored grandchildren Justin, Jordan, and Julianna Schaffer; Kathryn-Rose, Kevin and Christian Schaffer; and Samantha and Devon Morgan. Peter is married to Marci-Ann Rustic, Kevin is married to Karen Goukler, Jack is married to Nancy Smith and Mary is married to Charles Morgan. Gene is predeased by his father Clarence Eugene Schaffer and mother Gertrude McGinley Schaffer, his brother John Albert Schaffer. Gene engaged in many volunteer activities. In Gene’s belief system it wasn’t enough to just grow up through childhood and high school but to reach out to help others. He volunteered at St. Joseph’s Hospital, the Hospice organization, Connecticut Department of the Blind, the Autism Foundation, the Boys and Girls Club of New York City for run away children. Gene was a lover of all animals and particularly fond of dogs. He loved deeply his own dogs - Tony, Pookie, Pookie 2 and Ethel. He loved adventure and travel. He swam with the dolphins in Bermuda, hung out with the big turtles in Barbados, and in a major venture studied Taiko (Japanese) drumming on Sato Island in Northern Japan. He had a fondness for the people and culture of Japan despite the fact that we engaged in a war with them. Gene’s family will receive friends on Wednesday, September 14th, 2011 from 5pm to 9 pm at the Leo P. Gallagher & Son Funeral Home, 2900 Summer Street, Stamford, CT. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at the Church of St. Cecilia 1184 Newfield Ave, Stamford on Thursday, September 15th at 10:00 AM. Interment will follow at St. John’s Cemetery in Darien. In lieu of flowers please send donations to World Wildlife Fund at www.worldwildlife.org. To leave an online condolence please visit www.leopgallagherstamford.com