John Charles Shafer was born Sep 20, 1931, in Edison, NE, to the late George A. and Eva (Lewis) Shafer. He attended the New Era and Farmers Elementary Schools, near Edison and graduated from Edison High School with the Class of 1949. He then went one year to Nebraska State Teachers College at Kearney, NE (now Kearney State College), where he took pre-engineering courses. While attending that school, he received a principal appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. He entered that institution of higher learning on Jul 5, 1950, and graduated on Jun 8, 1954.

 

Following graduation from West Point, John began a career with the United States Army that spanned over 22½ years. His duty stations included Fort Bragg, NC; Fort Still, OK; Fort Campbell, KY; Korea; Fort Hood, TX; The Pentagon; Vietnam and Turkey. He received additional schooling during this period at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles (where he received a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1963) and the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, VA. While in California, John also taught mathematics and physics at the Electronic Technical Institute in Inglewood, CA.

 

While at Fort Still, John met and married Bethel Marie Bell at Sayre, OK on June  16, 1957. John and Beth are the parents of one son, John Charles Shafer Jr. (born in 1966) and the legal guardians of Nickolaus Lee MacManus (born in 1979).

 

Following retirement from the Army on Dec 31, 1976, John worked for Litton Industries, in the Washington, DC area as an Operational Research Analyst; for Consolidated Aluminum, at New Johnsonville, TN, as a Plant Engineer; and for Capitol Products Corporation, in Kentland, IN, as a Plant Engineer. He continued to live in Kentland after leaving Capitol Products on Aug 31, 1986. While in Kentland, he was an active member of the Kentland Rotary Club. He was a lifetime member of the West Point Association of Graduates, the Retired Officers Association and the American Legion of Hayes Center, NE. He was the Veterans Service Officer in Newton County for 20 years. John was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church in Kentland; Monument Lodge #293 in Arapahoe, NE; the Scottish Rite Consistory in Nashville, TN; El Menah Shrine Temple of Nashville; and Disabled American Veterans. John was awarded the Legion of Merit Award and was a Kentucky Colonel.

 

Surviving with his wife is a son, John Charles Shafer Jr. of Rensselaer and Nickolaus Lee MacManus, of Colorado, for whom they were the legal guardians. Also surviving are five grandchildren, Chelsea of Lafayette, Paige, Hollison, Dalton and Jack all of Rensselaer; a niece Rita (husband Allen) Erickson of Hayescenter, NE; and a nephew, Gerry Lee Shafer of Denver, CO. John was preceded in death by six brothers: Leland, Bobby, Kenneth, Gerald, Jim and Keith.

 

—From his Loving Family