SCHAFFER, Dr. William

Arthur

Dr. William Arthur Schaffer, 89, a longtime resident of Atlanta, GA, died on March 6, 2024.

Dr. Schaffer was born November 20, 1934, in Sandersville, Georgia, to Arthur Edward Schaffer and Sarah Key Harris Schaffer and was raised by his beloved grandparents, Samuel Robert Harris and Sarah Maude Key in Monticello, Georgia. After graduating as valedictorian from Monticello High, he earned his BS in Industrial Management at Georgia Tech in 1956 on an NROTC scholarship before serving four years in the U.S. Marine Corps as a helicopter pilot. Upon receiving his PhD in economics from Duke University in 1963, he returned to Atlanta to teach economics at Georgia Tech.

Bill married Lee Lonsdale Davis on December 31, 1969, in the courthouse at Monticello, Georgia. At Georgia Tech, he twice served as director of the School of Economics, and for 25 years was chair of the Finance Committee for the Board of the Georgia Tech Athletic Association. He served for many years as advisor to the Georgia Tech (Gamma Eta) chapter of Beta Theta Pi fraternity, was a board member of the Georgia Tech Executive Round Table, and founded the Georgia Tech chapter of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the student honorary society for economics. After retiring in 2001, he remained in the classroom until 2017, rounding out close to sixty years of service to Georgia Tech.

Bill loved his family and students, Georgia Tech, books, birds, economics, learning, teaching, mowing, and making peach ice cream. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity, the North Avenue Presbyterian Church, the Atlanta Economics Club, the Atlanta World War II Round Table, and the Inquiry Club.

Dr. Schaffer is survived by his son, Samuel Lonsdale Schaffer, his wife, Dana L. Schaffer, and granddaughter, Ernestine Clark Schaffer, of Washington, DC; his son, Edward Clark Schaffer, and his wife, Karleen Vogt Schaffer, and granddaughters, Linley Capri Schaffer and Colby Rae Schaffer, of Easthampton, MA; his sister, Sarah Ellen Hammond of Columbia, SC; his niece, Allison Hammond Ford, of Gilbert, SC; his nephew, Crockett Anderson Hammond Jr., of Clover, SC; and his cousin, John Robert Harris of Hartwell, GA. If desired, contributions may be made to the William A. Schaffer Scholarship Endowment Fund (online at http://development.gatech.edu, note "William A. Schaffer Scholarship Endowment Fund" in the special purpose box; or mail check to the Georgia Tech Foundation, 760 Spring St. NW, Suite 400, Atlanta, GA 30308).

A service will be held on May 18, at 2:00 PM, at H. M. Patterson & Son Oglethorpe Hill Chapel, 4550 Peachtree Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Apr. 28, 2024.

Memories and Condolences
for William Schaffer

Sponsored by H.M. Patterson & Son-Oglethorpe Hill Chapel.

1 Entry

Nancy (and Pierce) Johnson

December 18, 2024

Bill was such a special friend with whom we shared many good times together. He was stationed at a Marine Corps base nearby when Pierce and I were first married and Pierce had been assigned to the pentagon as a naval electronics officer. The two had been Beta Theta Pi fraternity brothers at GaTech, gone through NROTC and then graduated together. We frequently had Bill as a guest in our very first home (a one bedroom apartment in Arlington, VA) since he was stationed nearby and we included him in parties with other recent NROTC grads from Tech and Auburn, two of whom had married Agnes Scott College friends/classmates of mine. Bill was always good company and a wonderful story teller. And we will always remember that soft Southern dialect of his. Bill is gone but most definitely not forgotten. H e was a good husband to Lee, proud father of Sam and Teddy and a dear, dear friend of ours.