Jay D. Shaffer 1944-2023
On April 24, 1944, “It’s Love-Love-Love” by Guy Lombardo topped the charts, the film Double Indemnity starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck was released, and Jay Duane Shaffer was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Jay’s parents, Paul Shaffer (no, not that Paul Shaffer) and Esther (Roush) Shaffer, also had four daughters. Beverly Grote and Carolyn Such preceded Jay in death. Elizabeth Meyer and Gail Fetzer are the surviving siblings.
Engineering & Racing
He attended the University of Illinois until they asked him to take a break, but he hit his stride at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) and then never lived anywhere other than Wisconsin.
Jay's father Paul was an engineer. Jay would go on to be a mechanical engineer himself, becoming IT Director of Global Operations at Briggs and Stratton. He retired after 18 years with the company. His son, Sam Shaffer, later became an engineer as well. Jay’s grandson, Waylon, is regularly acing his 1st grade math tests and may carry on the family tradition.
Before he had a driver’s license, Jay was delighted to drive a "pea picker" in the fields of DeKalb, IL - beginning a lifelong fascination with motorized vehicles, especially race cars and motorcycles. Jay was a racecar driver at Blackhawk Farms Raceway in Illinois and Road America in Wisconsin, and would later crew for son Sam's amateur motorcycle races. Jay met a goal of riding his motorcycle in every one of the lower 48 states.
Funny Guy
Jay's hearing loss was first noticed at age 14, so during the 1960's draft he failed the physical (4F). He adapted by reading lips, which wasn't that helpful at drive-throughs, so he would guess at what they might ask when he ordered coffee; "black is fine" became his answer for many things.
Decades later, when Jay finally got a hearing aid, he said "Why do I need to know that my jacket zipper makes noise?"
Love & Marriage
Jay met Randalin Hurt in 1970; they were both working for Perfex in Milwaukee, WI at the time. They married in 1971 and had a daughter, Jamie, in 1972. After he and Randalin divorced, Jay would pick up 5-year-old Jamie from daycare on his motorcycle, and by the time they got home she’d be fast asleep, lulled by the road.
Jay met Barbara Saliek at Big Cedar Lake in 1977 and not long after he proposed while an ice cream truck went by his Brady Street home. They married in 1978, exactly one year after their first date at Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, WI. They would go on to celebrate 44 wedding anniversaries, raise two kids, many dogs, and one cat.
Knocking doors and knocking up (again)
Jay and Barbara had a daughter, Emily, in the summer of 1981, and son, Sam, in 1988. Two years after Emily was born, Jay ran as a write-in candidate for alderman in the city of Delafield, WI. He was elected by a narrow margin and served one two-year term.
Jay & Emily
Jay was an avid lap swimmer at the Tri County YMCA. As a teenager, Emily was also going to the same Y, which became a problem when she and her friends recognized an “old guy” at the pool wearing a Speedo. It was Jay, of course. Even so, his dedication to fitness rubbed off. Emily and Jay once ran an impromptu 5K on the Las Vegas strip at 7:00 in the morning, delighting in people watching. In Minneapolis they’d map out runs to look at houses for sale, always ending up at a coffee shop. Emily would go on to participate in several marathons and triathlons, with Jay cheering her on.
Jay brought the first 64K computer home to encourage the kids to be prepared for the future. He included a professional graphics program for Emily, Corel Draw. Emily is now a professional graphic designer.
Jay & Sam
As soon as Sam had his driver's license, Jay took him down to Nashville to ride motorcycles to Mississippi on the Natchez Trace. Later Jay and Sam rode Deal’s Gap in North Carolina and lots of local rides to Holy Hill and Hog's Back Rd. Jay and Sam took a boat on the Mississippi River and camped on sandbars from Hudson, WI to Minneapolis.
Jay loved his garages and did many projects with Sam, tearing down and rebuilding a Willys Jeep, helping Sam turbocharge his cars. In fact, Jay did many home designs and construction projects with the kids; sheds, decks, wrap-around porches, fences, swing sets, transforming a closet into a powder room and more. He was always up for a project, plan in hand and life lessons along the way.
Retirement
In retirement, Jay started enjoying cigars and running 5Ks near the family’s Hubertus, WI home. He’d drive his car around the neighborhood and spray paint his own mile markers. He loved taking motorcycle trips to Colorado with his good buddy Larry Spiers and doing local rides with Hubertus friends Tim Holk and Rob Hinrichs. Jay was known for planning the route and picking out the cheapest hotels (ideally under $40/night) on these trips.
Jay loved meeting people on the fringe of society. On a solo motorcycle trip to the Florida Keys, he hooked up with a few guys who "owned" a picnic table on a corner near a convenience store that had everything they needed: beer and snacks. They let Jay sleep on their couch for $35, and he drank the beer that the money bought. Another time in Colorado he rented a bedroom in a house with a 300 pound hooker.
Later in life, Jay loved to walk the dogs at Lion's Den Gorge, then stop for a “Senior” coffee and ice cream cone at McDonald's on the way home, sharing his cone with the dogs. Jay and Willie, a black goldendoodle, were locally well-known personalities from their many walks to downtown Cedarburg and on the Inter-Urban Bike Trail. In 2016 Jay rode 2,000 miles on his bicycle with a group of guys from Real Fitness.
In 2018 Jay was diagnosed with Frontal Temporal Degeneration (FTD) with a subtype of Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA). The first clue was trouble with word finding. Jay participated in a diet study at Johns Hopkins University and a speech therapy study at Northwestern University. Head trauma in 2021 accelerated his decline. Jay died on February 24, 2023, and donated his brain to the Medical College of Wisconsin's Brain Research Center.
A life well-lived
Jay cried at movies, including Homeward Bound, Pretty in Pink, and The Breakfast Club. He was fine with falling asleep at a party. He could strike up a conversation with anyone, and often did. Through the end Jay had a positive attitude, laughed through the difficulties, and made the people around him better for having known him. He will be missed.
Jay's first daughter Jamie Hightower lives in Austin, Texas with her husband Chris, and his granddaughters Jordan (20) and Madison (18) are both attending college nearby. Second daughter Emily Rodvold lives in Minnesota with her husband Zach and grandchildren Waylon (7), Miles (4), and Avett (2), each of whom loved their Papa Jay. Son Sam Shaffer lives in the Milwaukee area with his wife Nina and granddogs Pretzel (15) and Okie (8).
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Association for Frontotemporal Dementia or the Alzheimers Association. A celebration of Jay’s life with his family and friends will be held at Road America this summer.