Paul William Schaffer

Fair Haven - Paul William Schaffer passed away February 2, 2024, with his family by his side at Alamance Regional Medical Center in North Carolina. He was 79 years old. A memorial celebration in Fair Haven, NY, will be scheduled in late spring, and his remains will eventually be laid to rest in Springbrook Cemetery.

Born in Auburn, NY, on November 9, 1944, to Geraldine and Randolph Schaffer, Paul grew up in Fair Haven and graduated from Red Creek High School in 1962. He served as an aircraft instrument technician in the Air Force at the Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany and Wheelus Air Base in Libya from January 2, 1963, until his honorable discharge on December 23, 1966. Paul completed one year of college before going to work at Xerox, where he became a tool and die maker and then a model maker. He worked at Xerox for 32 years. He then retired and then spent 20 winters in Florida, where he and his wife made many wonderful friends.

Paul married into a family of 12 that kept him entertained for years. Joan had already claimed him as her husband-to-be at the age of 13. He was clueless then but eventually learned to appreciate his fate. Paul and Joan had two children, Rebecca and Brad, and Paul was a generous and doting father. He loved children and enjoyed making them laugh. He was reciting limericks and jokes to the very end.

Endlessly curious, Paul enjoyed disassembling things to see what made them tick, from his sister's talking doll, his family's first color TV, and hundreds of clocks and electronics bought at yard sales across New York to the many IVs, breathing aids, and other devices that enabled him to reach the age of 79. He also believed in the healing powers of duct tape.

Paul is survived by his wife of 54 years Joan Schaffer, daughter Rebecca Schaffer, son Kenneth Bradley Schaffer and his wife Kristina Schaffer, sister Sharon Wheeler, half-brother Billy McIntyre and his wife Peggy, and numerous nieces and nephews. He will live on in our memories as the witty, loving, and wonderful man he was.

In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to Rochester Regional Hospital in memory of Paul Schaffer: https://www.rrhgive.org/giving.