Beulah Irene (Hauenstein) Shaffer

Beulah I. Shaffer, 91, sailed away into Heaven Monday, January 7, 2019.  Born in Massillon, January 29, 1927, a daughter to the late Alvin S. and Clara (Schlunecker) Hauenstein, Beulah graduated from Washington High School with the Class of 1945.  She had lived in Massillon her whole life except for the last four months when she resided with her daughter and son-in-law in Dalton.  While working at the former Enterprise Aluminum of Massillon, she met her dear friend, Cathryn Welshenbaugh.  Later in her professional career, Beulah was secretary to the late Chester Giltz and then to Richard Brunn, when, in 1969, he began the Trust Department of the First National Bank in Massillon which became First Merit Bank.  She retired in 1989, after twenty years of service.  A long-time member of Epworth United Methodist Church of Massillon, Beulah enjoyed attending church, meeting her “Brookfield Girls” Cleo and Doris for lunch, boating – in her younger days, and wintering in Florida for 27 years.  Also an avid Tiger football fan, she attended games as long as she was able. 

In 1945, she eloped to marry Eldon Shaffer who was serving in the army during World War II and was home on leave.  She attentively devoted her life to him for 68 years until his passing in 2013.

In addition to her parents and her husband; Beulah is preceded in death by her sisters, Ruth McEwen and Ester Davis and two great-grandchildren.  She is survived by her daughter, Joan (Galen) Grabill; grandchildren, Mandy (Joe) Hurd, of New Philadelphia, Katie (Cole) Jackson, Phoebe Grabill and Jonas (Amber) Grabill, all of Massillon, Titus (Brittany) Grabill, of Wooster and Lydia Grabill and Noah Grabill, also of Massillon; and great-grandchildren, Ella Jackson, Carson Grabill and Lincoln Grabill.  

Funeral services will be conducted at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, January 13, 2019, at Atkinson Feucht Hare Funeral Home in Massillon.  Pastor Les Peine of Epworth UMC and Pastor Benny Anthony of Guiding Light Community Church of North Fort Myers, Florida will officiate.  The family will receive condolences on Saturday evening, January 12, from 6-8:00 p.m. and one hour prior to the service on Sunday, from 2-3:00 p.m. in the funeral home.  A private burial in Brookfield Cemetery will follow on Monday.

A special thanks to Beulah’s caregivers, Julia, Christine, Nancy and Lana and many others who helped from Abundant Life Christian Fellowship, whose kind work enabled her to be home.

Memorial contributions may be made in care of Community Hospice, 4912 Higbee Ave., NW, Suite 100, Canton, OH 44718, Epworth United Methodist Church, 3061 Lincoln Way West, Massillon, OH 44647 or Guiding Light Community Church, 1360 Touchstone Road, North Ft. Myers, FL 33903.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Beulah Irene (Hauenstein) Shaffer, please visit our floral store.