The Shaffer Parsons Volunteer Fire Department (PVFD) Fund of Tucker Community Foundation was recently established by the Harold & Ruth Shaffer Trust. The endowment will provide perpetual support for ongoing operations of the fire department.
The Shaffers hold Tucker Community Foundation’s record for most endowments created by one family. The Shaffer Mountain Hospice Fund serves Barbour, Randolph and Tucker County and provides perpetual operational support for the nonprofit organization; the Herbert W. Clarkson Scholarship Fund, established in honor of Ruth Shaffer’s uncle, and the Harold W. and Ruth F. Shaffer Scholarship Fund generate annual scholarships to one male and one female student graduating from Tucker County High School. The new PVFD Fund marks the fourth endowment and perpetuates the Shaffer’s vision, generosity, and legacy of philanthropy.
Harold W. Shaffer died in 2005 at age 97. He was born May 28, 1907, in Tucker County, a son of the late Harry and Stella Adams Shaffer. A 1926 graduate of Parsons High School, he attended Fairmont State College and held a master’s degree from West Virginia University. On April 10, 1952, he married the former Ruth Forman.
Mr. Shaffer was a veteran of World War II, serving with the U.S. Army. He taught at Parsons High School from 1933 to 1973 where he is credited with establishing the National Honor Society. He was the first sponsor of the Bow Tie Club, he sponsored the school newspaper, the Parsons Echo, and served as adviser of the Hi-Y Club for more than ten years. His former classroom is now home to the Parsons office of the Tucker Community Foundation.
Ruth was born in Barbour County in 1912 to Joseph and Viola Clarkson Forman, natives of Barbour and Preston counties. She graduated from Philippi High School and worked at the First National Bank (now Mountain Valley Bank, NA) in Parsons from 1960 to 1972.
In addition to these endowments, the Shaffers were benefactors of the Barbour County Senior Citizens Center, the First United Methodist Church and several service agencies.
For more information, or to donate to any of the Shaffer Funds, contact the Foundation office at 304-478-2930 or 304-259-5008.