Paul Shafer Obituary

Former Durango resident Paul Stewart Shafer died at his home in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 9, 2009. He was 94.

Mr. Shafer was born to Earnest and Sarah Ann Stewart Shafer in Moab, Utah, on Jan. 22, 1915. He graduated from high school in Moab in 1933. During his high school years, he played football, basketball and baseball and participated in track. After graduation, Mr. Shafer worked in a Civilian Conservation Corps camp.

In 1939, he graduated from Utah State University with a Bachelor of Science in forestry. He had turned down a full scholarship to play football for the University of Utah, but he did receive a scholarship from Montgomery Ward.

During World War II, Mr. Shafer served in the Army as a first lieutenant. He participated in the Normandy invasion on D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge as a line officer in the 440th AAA Battalion. He was discharged in 1945.

On March 23, 1946, he married Nyla R. Mahlstedt in Salt Lake City.

Mr. Shafer worked for the Bureau of Reclamation for 29 years, where he worked on a number of projects, including the Animas-La Plata Project as a soil scientist during the 1950s. The Shafers lived in Durango from 1949 to 1960.

Mr. Shafer enjoyed fishing, hunting, swimming and ice skating while in Durango. He told stories of taking the Durango & Rio Grande Railroad train for 25 cents to fish all day along the Animas River.

At the time of his retirement, Mr. Shafer was the chief of the Land Resources and Laboratory Branch in Salt Lake City.

He was a member of the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks.

Mr. Shafer was preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Nyla Shafer, in February.

He is survived by his daughters Pamela Wageman of Durango and Patricia Shafer of Salt Lake City; sons Robert Shafer of Lake Forest, Calif., and Richard Shafer of Grand Forks, N.D.; eight grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

Cremation has occurred. At Mr. Shafer's request, there will not be a service. His ashes will be buried with his wife's at a later date in Moab.