Grandpa Schaffer's Memorial

Jim and I were able to attend the memorial for Jim's Grandpa, who passed away December 21, 2012. It was great to see family that we haven't seen in years! Jim's mom, Nancy, and sister, Audrey, drove all night from Maryland. Duane and Diana came from Ohio. It was a very nice service and especially great to see everyone together.

Things we learned about Lester and Marietta:

1) They were dirt poor most of their life. The most grandpa made an hour was $8.

2) Grandpa was feisty as a young man and became more soft spoken and mellow as he got older.

3) Grandpa arrived in Germany about another after D day.

4) They had an outhouse while the children were little. Indoor plumbing didn't come until much later. Even then Grandpa would bring home buckets of warm water for the kids to share during bath time.

5) Jim has more cousins than I realized.

6) No one really knows when they got engaged, but grandpa is known to recall "I guess we really liked each other and got along, but don't really know why."

Things we knew about the Schaffer's:

1) Grandpa was baby lover. He loved his grand babies and great grand babies so much. There are so many pictures of him holding a baby in his lap, smiling and being in grandpa heaven.

2) Lester and Marietta were hard workers and great budgeters.

3) They left behind friends and family that love them dearly.