David Schafer

1931 - 2023

David Schafer
David Edward Schafer, 91, died peacefully on January 10th, at Yale New Haven Hospital, from respiratory failure due to Covid. David was born on March 8, 1931, in Wichita, KS to Glenn and Dorothy Schafer. Five days later June Joslin was born at the same hospital. A gifted child, David entered the second grade at five. After the tragic death of his father in 1940, he immersed himself in music, math and languages, and entered Friends University at 13 majoring in English literature. At 16 he accompanied tenor Bob Price on piano and the two of them performed in Carnegie Hall.
"In the luckiest accident of my life," David met June Joslin again at 14 when he became the organist at West Side Baptist Church, and she sang in the choir. At 16, with the help of Bayard Rustin, they co-founded the Wichita chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). The couple married on September 17, 1949, and celebrated their "luniversary" every month for nearly 71 years.
Entering graduate school at the University of Minnesota at 17, David became a teaching assistant to Robert Penn Warren in Interpretation of Poetry. Soon he and June joined the Minneapolis First Unitarian Society where David became the pianist and music committee chair and composed humanistic hymns. After studying Old and Medieval English, Latin, Greek and philosophy - especially the philosophy of science - David shifted his focus to the sciences and completed his PhD in physiology in 1959. His research caught the attention of renal expert Homer W. Smith and led to an appointment as assistant professor in physiology at New York University (1958-1963). Concurrently he translated and edited two Russian physiology journals.
In 1963 David became a Fulbright professor in physiology and biophysics at Calcutta University; "You want me to bring two small children where?" June would recall asking him, fondly. Three years later he was hired by the Rockefeller Foundation as acting physiology chair for a new medical school in Bangkok. Returning to Minnesota in 1968, David extended the family by bringing along two of his graduate students, Ajit Thakur and Bithi Sircar. During this time David and June also became involved in the Bangladesh Liberation movement, for which they received an award in 2011.
In 1974 the family moved to Hamden, CT where David continued his cholera research at the VA and lectured at the Yale Medical School. David and June also joined the Unitarian Society of New Haven. As the USNH pianist (and afterwards), David continued to compose work that is still used by congregations around the country. Humanism, a reason-based approach to ethical living, was an increasing source of joy in his life. David co-founded the Central Connecticut Humanist Association in 1989 and served as president of the Unitarian Humanist Association from 2003 to 2010. A principled, brilliant and remarkable man who loved to share his encyclopedic knowledge...he would "occasionally" utter a pun. Avocado is better than no cado at all, for instance.
June predeceased David, who is survived by two sisters, Ruth Schafer and Jayne Sanderson (Ken), and two children, Martin Schafer (Eileen Lufkin) and Margaret Schafer (Ruth Slater), along with four grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, one niece, three nephews, 10 grandnieces and nephews, and four great-grandnieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held for David on June 3 at 11 AM at the Unitarian Society of New Haven, 700 Hartford Turnpike, Hamden, CT. In lieu of flowers, please consider contributing to the Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association ( uuha.org ).