Mary
Mary L. Shaffer
Mary L. Shaffer, age 85 of Fremont, Ohio, passed away at Inpatient Bridge Hospice Care Center at Blanchard Valley Hospital on September 12, 2021. She was born November 19, 1935 in Detroit, Michigan to the late Wayne and Martha (Posey) Campbell. She married Donald Shaffer on October 19, 1963. She was preceded in death by her husband and her brother, Gerald Campbell. She is survived by daughters, Cathy (Wendell) Giedeman of Findlay, Connie (Joel) Mayerson of Columbus, Ohio, son Kevin (Lori) Shaffer of Hamilton, Ohio and grandchildren, Bethany Giedeman, Sam Giedeman, Drew Mayerson, Ethan Mayerson, Andrew Shaffer and Kristin Shaffer. Mary was also called mom by David Michael Charles Knight of South Africa (deceased) and Yasuko Hirano of Japan, AFS exchange students the Shaffer family hosted and loved.
Mary had a varied career, starting as a nurse in Detroit where she met and cared for her future husband Don after an auto accident. She enjoyed time at St. Francis Rehab hospital in Green Springs. After turning 50, Mary went back to school and earned her associates degree in business preparing her for her position as Volunteer Coordinator at Fremont Memorial Hospital and led to her final professional position as Foundation Director at Fremont Memorial Hospital. She loved both of those positions and loved making her community a better place.
Mary served the community volunteering with many organizations. Some of the positions she held include Fremont Memorial Hospital Auxiliary President, Fremont Exchange Club President, and District President for the National Exchange Club. Mary was a Master Gardener and served on the Beautification Commission in Fremont. She enjoyed singing and performing with the Terra Choir. She was also very active in Coterie Club and her HOA management. Mary was awarded the Athena Award for excellence in leadership.
Mary was an active member of various church congregations. She and Don were youth group leaders at East Side Presbyterian in Fremont for several years and loved to take the kids camping. When she moved to Findlay she attended St. Andrews UMC with Cathy & Wendell. Mary loved to sing hymns before, during, and after church.
Mary was physically active her whole life. She served on Mt. Brighton, Michigan, ski patrol for over 20 years and took joy and pride in teaching many Fremonters to ski. She skied until she was 79 years old. In the warmer months Mary golfed and rode her bike along the bike trails through Sandusky County where she also spent time as part of the Trail Safety Bike Patrol. At 75 years, Mary rode 100 miles completing the Great Ohio Bike Adventure and the Hancock Horizontal Hundred. She insisted that her 65th birthday party take place on the ice rink of the Fremont Community Recreation Complex where Mary spent much of her time walking if weather did not allow outside activity or to attend one of her favorite exercise classes.
Mary loved to travel. Some of her highlight trips included Israel, Hawaii, camping in Wyoming, skiing in Colorado & Vermont, Ireland, Alaska, Italy & New York City for a Broadway experience.
Mary was very close to her mother Martha. After the Detroit riots of 1967 the Shaffers built an addition on to their house for Martha to live in and she was then part of their daily family life. Martha was a great cook, and food was a big part of the Shaffer family. During the Blizzard of 1978 when Don was Sandusky County Engineer, Mary (and Cathy) cooked for the plow truck drivers for several days.
Like Don, Mary donated her body to the Ohio State University for medical research. A Memorial Service will be held at St. Andrews United Methodist Church, 120 W. Sandusky St, Findlay, Ohio on Sunday, September 19, 2021 at 2:00pm with Pastor Becky Schofield Motter officiating. Visitation will take place from 1 to 2 pm at the church. In an effort to protect one another from COVID, the family is requesting that masks be worn during visitation and throughout the service. Friends and family not in attendance can participate in an online video feed of the service at
https://www.saumcfindlay.org/live-streaming-saumcfindlay/
. In Lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the “Don and Mary Shaffer Music Scholarship Endowment” at Terra State Community College
www.terra.edu
or an organization of your choice.
The family would like to thank the staff at The Legacy at the Heritage in Findlay, Ohio for the care they gave Mary during her time there. Also, many thanks to the staff at Blanchard Valley Hospital and Bridge Hospice Care Center.
Offer Condolences for the family of Mary L. Shaffer
Mary had a varied career, starting as a nurse in Detroit where she met and cared for her future husband Don after an auto accident. She enjoyed time at St. Francis Rehab hospital in Green Springs. After turning 50, Mary went back to school and earned her associates degree in business preparing her for her position as Volunteer Coordinator at Fremont Memorial Hospital and led to her final professional position as Foundation Director at Fremont Memorial Hospital. She loved both of those positions and loved making her community a better place.
Mary served the community volunteering with many organizations. Some of the positions she held include Fremont Memorial Hospital Auxiliary President, Fremont Exchange Club President, and District President for the National Exchange Club. Mary was a Master Gardener and served on the Beautification Commission in Fremont. She enjoyed singing and performing with the Terra Choir. She was also very active in Coterie Club and her HOA management. Mary was awarded the Athena Award for excellence in leadership.
Mary was an active member of various church congregations. She and Don were youth group leaders at East Side Presbyterian in Fremont for several years and loved to take the kids camping. When she moved to Findlay she attended St. Andrews UMC with Cathy & Wendell. Mary loved to sing hymns before, during, and after church.
Mary was physically active her whole life. She served on Mt. Brighton, Michigan, ski patrol for over 20 years and took joy and pride in teaching many Fremonters to ski. She skied until she was 79 years old. In the warmer months Mary golfed and rode her bike along the bike trails through Sandusky County where she also spent time as part of the Trail Safety Bike Patrol. At 75 years, Mary rode 100 miles completing the Great Ohio Bike Adventure and the Hancock Horizontal Hundred. She insisted that her 65th birthday party take place on the ice rink of the Fremont Community Recreation Complex where Mary spent much of her time walking if weather did not allow outside activity or to attend one of her favorite exercise classes.
Mary loved to travel. Some of her highlight trips included Israel, Hawaii, camping in Wyoming, skiing in Colorado & Vermont, Ireland, Alaska, Italy & New York City for a Broadway experience.
Mary was very close to her mother Martha. After the Detroit riots of 1967 the Shaffers built an addition on to their house for Martha to live in and she was then part of their daily family life. Martha was a great cook, and food was a big part of the Shaffer family. During the Blizzard of 1978 when Don was Sandusky County Engineer, Mary (and Cathy) cooked for the plow truck drivers for several days.
Like Don, Mary donated her body to the Ohio State University for medical research. A Memorial Service will be held at St. Andrews United Methodist Church, 120 W. Sandusky St, Findlay, Ohio on Sunday, September 19, 2021 at 2:00pm with Pastor Becky Schofield Motter officiating. Visitation will take place from 1 to 2 pm at the church. In an effort to protect one another from COVID, the family is requesting that masks be worn during visitation and throughout the service. Friends and family not in attendance can participate in an online video feed of the service at
https://www.saumcfindlay.org/live-streaming-saumcfindlay/
. In Lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the “Don and Mary Shaffer Music Scholarship Endowment” at Terra State Community College
www.terra.edu
or an organization of your choice.
The family would like to thank the staff at The Legacy at the Heritage in Findlay, Ohio for the care they gave Mary during her time there. Also, many thanks to the staff at Blanchard Valley Hospital and Bridge Hospice Care Center.
Offer Condolences for the family of Mary L. Shaffer
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