Dr. Horace M. Shaffer, 96, passed away peacefully on September 5th at Pennswood Village in Newtown, PA. Born June 14, 1923 to Elmer Lentz Shaffer and Lillian Epstein Shaffer in Trenton, NJ, Horace graduated from Trenton High School, Princeton University, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia Medical School where he enrolled in an accelerated program in order to join the Navy. After serving in the Navy as Lieutenant Junior Gray on the ship USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, he lived in New York City where he interned at Bellevue Hospital and completed his residency at Veterans Hospital. He moved to Trenton, NJ where he had a private internal medicine practice and was associated with Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol, PA and Mercer Medical Center in Trenton where he was Chairman of the Medical Department and Medical Director. After raising his family and then remarrying, Horace and his adoring wife Joyce moved to New Hope, PA where they lived for many happy years before moving to Pennswood Village in 2014.
A “Renaissance” man who enjoyed many talents and areas of knowledge, he led a life balanced with family, work, exercise, intellectual and spiritual pursuits, as well as community service. He studied the classics, humanities, learned Greek, Latin and French, loved reading, and after retiring in 1987 from his medical practice, he studied drawing, painting, sculpting, alto sax and clarinet as well as volunteering for 14 years at Chandler Hall in Newtown, PA. A practitioner of Dzogchen, a form of Tibetan Buddhism, for many years, he attended retreats with Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche.
Horace enjoyed many special friendships during his long life. In the Navy, he became friends with Alan Shepard, the first American to be launched into space, and the only American to hit golf balls on the moon. During their Navy years, Horace and Alan had the pleasure of meeting Eleanor Roosevelt in Paris.
Horace is survived by his devoted, loving and caring wife of 42 years Joyce who always shared his interests, from art, reading, golf, skiing, traveling – and just being together; his children Pamela Leeds, Richard Shaffer and Jill McGlone; his oldest daughter Karen Shaffer predeceased him; his stepchildren Wendy Kraus (Mitch), Rob Bear (Cindy); his grandchildren Andrew Shaffer, Lindsay Shaffer Hyatt (Andrew), Shana McGlone, and Mariah Wilson (Nathan); Danielle Wexler (Mitch), Samantha and Max Bear; his great-grandchildren Reid Wexler and James Maverick Wilson.
Donations in his memory may be sent to: Pennswood Village, 1382 Newtown-Langhorne Rd., Newtown, PA 18940 for their Fellowship Fund.