Levi L. (Buster) Schaffer, age 85, of Hot Springs, SD, left this world on angel wings to be with his Savior in Heaven on October 22, 2010, at VA Medical Center in Hot Springs after suffering a brief illness.
Buster was born at Faulkton, SD, on April 29, 1925, to Rose (Schmitgall) and Augustus Schaffer, the fifth of six children.
For a short time he traveled with his family as they looked for work before moving to Hot Springs. Hot Springs is where Buster lived and worked for the remainder of his life except for the years he spent in the U.S. Army in World War II.
Buster went to school, taking jobs after school and before school to help support his mother. He graduated from Hot Springs High School in 1943, joined the Army in 1946 and was stationed in Japan as part of the US occupation of that country.
One of his duties was handing out day jobs to the Japanese civilians every morning. He understood the pain and suffering he saw in their faces, having gone through the hunger and poverty himself growing up.
When he came back to the US after the war, he visited his mother briefly in California, where she had moved after he joined the Army.
However, Buster returned to Hot Springs, because this was his home.
He worked at the old 7-11 Ranch as a dairy/ranch hand, coming into town on weekends to just get away. That is when he met the girl he would marry, Ethel Cox.
She eventually convinced him that he should meet her family, which he did. There he found the mother he missed and the father he had never been so lucky to have, and in June of 1948 he and Ethel married and started their lives together. They observed their 62nd wedding anniversary this past summer.
Buster learned a trade and eventually starting his own business. He worked hard for almost 30 years, fixing and installing furnaces for people in this town and the surrounding area. He very seldom had a holiday at home because there would be a call just as the family was going off to church or sitting down to a meal.
He understood how hard it was to be cold, really cold, too poor, and how hard it was to ask for help. Consequently, he never was a wealthy man in money or property, but he could look himself in the mirror every day and know he had done something to help someone else.
He believed in his Savior and Lord Jesus Christ to the end, he was human and had faults.
Buster was a fiercely independent thinker (otherwise known as obstinate), a loyal friend, faithful and loving husband and father.
His priorities were God, Country, family, friends.
Buster is preceded in death by his in-laws, Tim and Ida Cox; his mother; all his brothers and sisters; his estranged father; numerous nieces and nephews, friends near and dear. So much pain and so much love. Missing him forever will be his bride, Ethel; his daughter, Shary; furry friends Buddy, Riley, Lucy, Beau, Charlie, Spike and Gracie.
We love you now and always will.
Memorial services will be held 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, October 27, 2010, at Grace Lutheran Church with Pastor Bill Russow officiating.
In lieu of flowers a memorial has been established in Levi's name to benefit the Grace Lutheran Church in Hot Springs.
Arrangements have been placed in the care of McColley's Chapel of the Hills in Hot Springs. Written condolences may be made at www.mccolleyschapels.com.
Buster was born at Faulkton, SD, on April 29, 1925, to Rose (Schmitgall) and Augustus Schaffer, the fifth of six children.
For a short time he traveled with his family as they looked for work before moving to Hot Springs. Hot Springs is where Buster lived and worked for the remainder of his life except for the years he spent in the U.S. Army in World War II.
Buster went to school, taking jobs after school and before school to help support his mother. He graduated from Hot Springs High School in 1943, joined the Army in 1946 and was stationed in Japan as part of the US occupation of that country.
One of his duties was handing out day jobs to the Japanese civilians every morning. He understood the pain and suffering he saw in their faces, having gone through the hunger and poverty himself growing up.
When he came back to the US after the war, he visited his mother briefly in California, where she had moved after he joined the Army.
However, Buster returned to Hot Springs, because this was his home.
He worked at the old 7-11 Ranch as a dairy/ranch hand, coming into town on weekends to just get away. That is when he met the girl he would marry, Ethel Cox.
She eventually convinced him that he should meet her family, which he did. There he found the mother he missed and the father he had never been so lucky to have, and in June of 1948 he and Ethel married and started their lives together. They observed their 62nd wedding anniversary this past summer.
Buster learned a trade and eventually starting his own business. He worked hard for almost 30 years, fixing and installing furnaces for people in this town and the surrounding area. He very seldom had a holiday at home because there would be a call just as the family was going off to church or sitting down to a meal.
He understood how hard it was to be cold, really cold, too poor, and how hard it was to ask for help. Consequently, he never was a wealthy man in money or property, but he could look himself in the mirror every day and know he had done something to help someone else.
He believed in his Savior and Lord Jesus Christ to the end, he was human and had faults.
Buster was a fiercely independent thinker (otherwise known as obstinate), a loyal friend, faithful and loving husband and father.
His priorities were God, Country, family, friends.
Buster is preceded in death by his in-laws, Tim and Ida Cox; his mother; all his brothers and sisters; his estranged father; numerous nieces and nephews, friends near and dear. So much pain and so much love. Missing him forever will be his bride, Ethel; his daughter, Shary; furry friends Buddy, Riley, Lucy, Beau, Charlie, Spike and Gracie.
We love you now and always will.
Memorial services will be held 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, October 27, 2010, at Grace Lutheran Church with Pastor Bill Russow officiating.
In lieu of flowers a memorial has been established in Levi's name to benefit the Grace Lutheran Church in Hot Springs.
Arrangements have been placed in the care of McColley's Chapel of the Hills in Hot Springs. Written condolences may be made at www.mccolleyschapels.com.
Levi L. (Buster) Schaffer, age 85, of Hot Springs, SD, left this world on angel wings to be with his Savior in Heaven on October 22, 2010, at VA Medical Center in Hot Springs after suffering a brief illness.
Buster was born at Faulkton, SD, on April 29, 1925, to Rose (Schmitgall) and Augustus Schaffer, the fifth of six children.
For a short time he traveled with his family as they looked for work before moving to Hot Springs. Hot Springs is where Buster lived and worked for the remainder of his life except for the years he spent in the U.S. Army in World War II.
Buster went to school, taking jobs after school and before school to help support his mother. He graduated from Hot Springs High School in 1943, joined the Army in 1946 and was stationed in Japan as part of the US occupation of that country.
One of his duties was handing out day jobs to the Japanese civilians every morning. He understood the pain and suffering he saw in their faces, having gone through the hunger and poverty himself growing up.
When he came back to the US after the war, he visited his mother briefly in California, where she had moved after he joined the Army.
However, Buster returned to Hot Springs, because this was his home.
He worked at the old 7-11 Ranch as a dairy/ranch hand, coming into town on weekends to just get away. That is when he met the girl he would marry, Ethel Cox.
She eventually convinced him that he should meet her family, which he did. There he found the mother he missed and the father he had never been so lucky to have, and in June of 1948 he and Ethel married and started their lives together. They observed their 62nd wedding anniversary this past summer.
Buster learned a trade and eventually starting his own business. He worked hard for almost 30 years, fixing and installing furnaces for people in this town and the surrounding area. He very seldom had a holiday at home because there would be a call just as the family was going off to church or sitting down to a meal.
He understood how hard it was to be cold, really cold, too poor, and how hard it was to ask for help. Consequently, he never was a wealthy man in money or property, but he could look himself in the mirror every day and know he had done something to help someone else.
He believed in his Savior and Lord Jesus Christ to the end, he was human and had faults.
Buster was a fiercely independent thinker (otherwise known as obstinate), a loyal friend, faithful and loving husband and father.
His priorities were God, Country, family, friends.
Buster is preceded in death by his in-laws, Tim and Ida Cox; his mother; all his brothers and sisters; his estranged father; numerous nieces and nephews, friends near and dear. So much pain and so much love. Missing him forever will be his bride, Ethel; his daughter, Shary; furry friends Buddy, Riley, Lucy, Beau, Charlie, Spike and Gracie.
We love you now and always will.
Memorial services will be held 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, October 27, 2010, at Grace Lutheran Church with Pastor Bill Russow officiating.
In lieu of flowers a memorial has been established in Levi's name to benefit the Grace Lutheran Church in Hot Springs.
Arrangements have been placed in the care of McColley's Chapel of the Hills in Hot Springs. Written condolences may be made at www.mccolleyschapels.com.
Buster was born at Faulkton, SD, on April 29, 1925, to Rose (Schmitgall) and Augustus Schaffer, the fifth of six children.
For a short time he traveled with his family as they looked for work before moving to Hot Springs. Hot Springs is where Buster lived and worked for the remainder of his life except for the years he spent in the U.S. Army in World War II.
Buster went to school, taking jobs after school and before school to help support his mother. He graduated from Hot Springs High School in 1943, joined the Army in 1946 and was stationed in Japan as part of the US occupation of that country.
One of his duties was handing out day jobs to the Japanese civilians every morning. He understood the pain and suffering he saw in their faces, having gone through the hunger and poverty himself growing up.
When he came back to the US after the war, he visited his mother briefly in California, where she had moved after he joined the Army.
However, Buster returned to Hot Springs, because this was his home.
He worked at the old 7-11 Ranch as a dairy/ranch hand, coming into town on weekends to just get away. That is when he met the girl he would marry, Ethel Cox.
She eventually convinced him that he should meet her family, which he did. There he found the mother he missed and the father he had never been so lucky to have, and in June of 1948 he and Ethel married and started their lives together. They observed their 62nd wedding anniversary this past summer.
Buster learned a trade and eventually starting his own business. He worked hard for almost 30 years, fixing and installing furnaces for people in this town and the surrounding area. He very seldom had a holiday at home because there would be a call just as the family was going off to church or sitting down to a meal.
He understood how hard it was to be cold, really cold, too poor, and how hard it was to ask for help. Consequently, he never was a wealthy man in money or property, but he could look himself in the mirror every day and know he had done something to help someone else.
He believed in his Savior and Lord Jesus Christ to the end, he was human and had faults.
Buster was a fiercely independent thinker (otherwise known as obstinate), a loyal friend, faithful and loving husband and father.
His priorities were God, Country, family, friends.
Buster is preceded in death by his in-laws, Tim and Ida Cox; his mother; all his brothers and sisters; his estranged father; numerous nieces and nephews, friends near and dear. So much pain and so much love. Missing him forever will be his bride, Ethel; his daughter, Shary; furry friends Buddy, Riley, Lucy, Beau, Charlie, Spike and Gracie.
We love you now and always will.
Memorial services will be held 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, October 27, 2010, at Grace Lutheran Church with Pastor Bill Russow officiating.
In lieu of flowers a memorial has been established in Levi's name to benefit the Grace Lutheran Church in Hot Springs.
Arrangements have been placed in the care of McColley's Chapel of the Hills in Hot Springs. Written condolences may be made at www.mccolleyschapels.com.
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