Charles L. Shaffer

Charles L. “Chuck” “Charlie” Shaffer, 79, of Mingo passed away on Tuesday, April 4, 2017, at the Westview Nursing Home in Indianola.  A funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Monday, April 10, at the Wallace Family Funeral Home and Crematory.  The family will greet friends from 4-6 p.m., Sunday, April 9, at the funeral home.  Memorials to Jasper County Conservation may be left at the funeral home.

Charlie, the son of Lester L. and Bertine E. (Maxwell) Shaffer, was born on September 17, 1937 in Mingo.  He graduated from Mingo High School in 1955.  On November 10, 1956, Chuck was united in marriage to Darlene M. Noe.  They lived in Mingo and the surrounding area where they raised their three children and later divorced after 45 years of marriage. Chuck worked at John Deere Des Moines Works for 31 years, retiring on March 31, 1993.  He was a member of the UAW Local 450. 

Chuck had a passion for fishing and enjoyed fishing the creeks, lakes, and ponds in Iowa and Minnesota.  He also enjoyed game and mushroom hunting, gardening, woodworking and sports with the Iowa Hawkeyes and Chicago Cubs being his favorite teams although growing up he was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan.  Chuck was blessed with a great sense of humor and gift for telling and playing jokes on unsuspecting friends and family members.  That sense of humor together with his hard work ethic served him well most of his life.

Those left to honor Chuck’s memory are his three children, Richard J. (Jayne) Shaffer of Joice, Machelle R. Shaffer of Des Moines, and Michael L. (Sue) Shaffer of Lenox; three grandchildren, Melissa A. (Craig) Holdefer, Aaron J. (Sarah) Shaffer, and Shaun M. Shaffer; six step-grandchildren; two great-grandchildren, Katelyn Roush and Lincoln Shaffer; thirteen step-great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild, Jaxson Halterman; and his sister, Beverly S. (Shaffer) Murphy of Cedar Falls.  He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother-in-law, Kenneth E. Murphy.

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