Trudy Porter Schafer

June 20, 2018 Surrounded by family, Trudy Schafer passed away on June 20, 2018 from pancreatic cancer. A daughter in an Air Force family, Trudy grew up in many locations around the country. She received her BA from Northwestern University and a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Chicago, where she was a Hertz Foundation Fellow. She was a postdoctoral fellow in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. Along the way she met and fell in love with John Schafer, whom she married on June 28, 1969. They moved in 1978 to Sacramento, where they raised their two children, Anne and Robert (Bob). Trudy enjoyed countless roles ranging from school computer docent to Brownie troop leader. The move also brought a change in career, when volunteer activity with the League of Women Voters (LWV) sparked an enthusiasm for public policy. Trudy served as president of the Sacramento County League before joining the state League's staff in 1992. For the next 25 years, she led the LWV California's advocacy and community education efforts. As Senior Director for Program, she oversaw a complex, multi-issue legislative agenda, lobbying at the state Capitol and leading on a number of ballot measure campaigns. She was a respected expert on dozens of issues including election and redistricting reform, limiting the influence of money in politics, and reforming the California budget process. She retired from the LWVC in late 2017. Numerous speakers at her retirement soiree praised her excellence in analyzing and presenting bills, and one lawmaker stated that he would withhold his decision on a bill until he had heard Trudy Schafer's opinion. Trudy is survived by her husband of 49 years, John Schafer, MD; daughter, Anne Schafer, MD (husband Michael Buckley, PhD, daughters Rachel and Laurel); son, Bob Schafer, PhD (wife Kristina Carbonell, JD); and sister, Vickie Domingo. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 7 at 11 a.m. at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 2620 Capitol Ave., Sacramento, CA 95816. In lieu of flowers, donations will be gratefully accepted by the Trudy Schafer Fellowship for Public Policy of the League of Women Voters of California (lwvc.org/schaferfellowship).