'People-oriented' priest dies

A priest who believed in the power of communication, died June 11. Fr. Richard Carl Shafer, 80, formally retired from the priesthood in 1992, but continued to say Masses and hear cases in the Interdiocesan Marriage Tribunal (an appellate court).

Fr. Shafer also used the Internet and ham radio to keep in touch with people around the globe. He considered modern technology a challenge to embrace.

"If you don't have a challenge ahead of you, you're going to end up watching ball games and soap operas on TV," he said in 1996 on his golden jubilee of priesthood.

Fr. Shafer was born in Appleton on Jan. 23, 1922, and was the son of Harry and Gertrude (Tennie) Shafer. He attended St. Joseph School there and junior seminary at Mt. Calvary, before attending Catholic University of America in Washington on a Basselin Scholarship. He also received a Master's in Theology from CUA and was ordained by Bp. Stanislaus Bona on June 15, 1946. His first assignment was Our Lady of Lourdes, Marinette.

Retirement, 46 years later, slowed him little. He had begun working on the Marriage Tribunal in 1959 and continued until his death.

Msgr. Dennis Lally, a tribunal judge, recalled Fr. Shafer coming every month to review annulment cases. "He kept up on issues," Msgr. Lally said. "He read extensively on church and priesthood issues. He'd bring me articles and say, 'Here, read this and tell me what you think.'"

Fr. Shafer was always interested in people's thoughts. He and Fr. Gerald Foley had been friends since Fr. Shafer was pastor at Fr. Foley's home parish, St. John, Seymour (1967-73). Fr. Foley was a chaplain in Vietnam and met Fr. Shafer while home on leave.

"He was a very people-oriented person," Fr. Foley said. "He always had time for people. He never hurried. He gave you all the time you needed."

Fr. Foley, who lunched with Fr. Shafer weekly, said people energized his friend. "He'd walk into a restaurant and just stop and talk with people, whether he knew them or not," Fr. Foley said. "When he helped at parishes, he'd arrive a half hour early to meet people and talk with them. After Mass, he was always the last to leave."

After retirement, Fr. Shafer provided weekend help at parishes; currently at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral and St. John in Green Bay. He also celebrated Monday Mass at St. Patrick Parish in Green Bay, and did so the day he died.

"The people loved him," said Msgr. Brian Coleman, pastor at St. Patrick. "When I announced his death on Tuesday, there was an audible gasp in the church. Some women started crying. And even some men got teary-eyed."

Msgr. Coleman, assistant judicial vicar, also worked with Fr. Shafer on annulments and appreciated the senior priest's 43 years of experience in tribunal cases. "He never said 'No' to anything. He was always willing to help," Msgr. Coleman said.

Fr. Shafer loved short-wave radio, a hobby begun while administrator at Menasha's St. Mary High School in 1958. His station, W9URY, linked him to people across the globe and its trusty antenna followed him to pastoral assignments at Glenmore and Stark, Seymour and St. Paul in Wrightstown. Retirement to a Green Bay apartment temporarily curtailed that hobby -- until friends located an in-room antenna -- so he became certified as a PC specialist.

Computers were an early interest and he was the first priest to place parish records on computer. He was also a pioneer in parish use of catechetical materials during the 1960s and 1970s.

Another love was sailing. Even though health problems had grounded him, Fr. Foley recalled him prowling the Sturgeon Bay Yacht Harbor, studying the boats in dock.

With all his interests, Fr. Shafer will be most remembered as caring about others. He was devoted to friends and visited his former housekeeper, 96-year-old Veronica Kennedy, in the nursing home nearly every morning.

The Funeral Mass for Fr. Shafer was on June 17 at St. Paul Parish, Wrightstown, with Bp. Robert Banks as main celebrant and Fr. Foley as homilist. Burial was in St. Joseph Cemetery, Appleton, with Fr. Foley and Fr. Milton Suess officiating.