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Rev. William Herbert Schaffer
Former Kenai resident the Rev. William Herbert Schaffer died
Sunday, Dec. 29, 2002, at Grace Village Health Care in Winona Lake, Ind. He was
98.
A funeral service will be held at a later date
in Johnstown, Pa. Burial will be in Richland Cemetery in Johnstown.
He was born May 11, 1904, in Allentown, Pa., to
William H. Schaffer and Jane (George) Schaffer. He married Helen Maurine
Hostetler on June 11, 1927. She died March 1, 1978.
He served as a Grace Brethren minister for 20
years in Kenai. He started one church in Alaska and since 1984 had served as
minister of missions at Kenai Grace Brethren Church.
For 21 years he also served as a chaplain with
the Civil Air Patrol, an auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, in Pennsylvania,
Washington and Alaska. He retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
He moved to Kosciusko County in Indiana from
Kenai in August 2000.
He graduated from Ashland University in
Ashland, Ohio, in 1927 with a bachelor of arts degree in classical divinity. He
also attended Muhlenberg College in Spokane, Wash., and did post-graduate work
at Whitworth College in Spokane.
Rev. Schaffer was one of the founders of the
Grace Brethren Fellowship. His preaching ministry began in 1925. Seven pastors,
five foreign missionaries and one lay evangelist were the products of his
ministry. During a 12-year pastorate in West Kittanning, Pa., he trained five
assistants.
He was a member of the National Ministerial
Association and was the last living member of the committee that organized Grace
Theological Seminary and was a trustee during its first 25 years.
He was the first treasurer of the Grace
Brethren Missions Council; was a member of the Missionary Herald board of
trustees for 29 years; was a former board member of the Brethren Herald
Magazine; was secretary-treasurer of the Grace Brethren retirement board for 20
years; was vice moderator of the National Grace Brethren Conference in 1953; and
was a former member of the Brethren Home Mission Board.
He was preceded in death by his sister, Helen
Schaffer Flowers.
He is survived by sons, Herbert Paul Schaffer
of Lewistown, Texas, and William Lewis Schaffer of Miami Lakes, Fla.; a
daughter, Alyce Ann Schaffer of Tacoma, Wash.; 10 grandchildren and 19
great-grandchildren.
Memorials may be made to Grace Theological
College and Seminary, 200 Seminary Drive, Winona Lake, IN 46590 or Grace
Brethren Home Missions, 1401 Kings Highway, Winona Lake, IN 46590.
Arrangements were made by Titus Funeral Home in
Warsaw, Ind.
Source: Peninsula Clarion, January 5, 2003
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