BIO: John G. SHAFFER, Blair county, PA

Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Denise Phillips 
 
Copyright 2006.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/blair/
_________________________________________ 

Donehoo, George P., Editor-in-Chief.  Pennsylvania, A History, 
Vol. 3, Biography.  New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., Inc., 
1926, pages 68-69.
_________________________________________ 

  DR. JOHN G. SHAFFER - Some men live full lives because they naturally have 
a superabundance of energy; others seek means of filling their lives with 
pleasures, but it is the man who has service to give to the world who lives 
the fullest life.  To him the way is always open, and new tasks, new duties 
are forever rising before him, that to do become the great joy of life to 
him.  To the man who wants to serve in the best manner possible, the 
development of the gifts of his mind opens the path of least resistance, and 
this type of man usually equips himself with that work or profession that 
will most quickly place him in the line of service.  Dr. John G. Shaffer 
fitted himself to become a dentist, and the service he rendered to his 
country during the great World War was undoubtedly enlarged through his 
expert knowledge.  A man still young in years, he has accomplished much, but 
this he made possible by knowing the value of time, that touchstone of 
success, which has been the blessing of every successful man.  The great 
Gladstone once said: "Believe me when I tell you that thrift of time will 
repay you in after-life with a usury of profit beyond your most sanguine 
dreams, and that the waste of it will make you dwindle, alike in 
intellectual and moral stature, beyond your darkest reckonings."  It has 
been this power of utilizing time that led Dr. Shaffer to not alone become 
successful in his profession, which is an exacting one, and in which the 
element of time so largely enters, but has enabled him to take active part 
in varied organized affairs that tend towards progress and a forward 
movement of the community life.  Civic, fraternal and church activities 
claim much of his interest and help, and it is his ability to make use of 
his spare time in the most profitable manner that has enabled him to give 
what he has given in these various calls upon his personal service.  Dr. 
Shaffer is held in the high regard of the section where he was born and 
reared, and has labored, and his influence for good upon the community is 
one that is growing as his work and activities are growing.  He is already 
one of the able and prominent citizens, and the future holds promise of 
splendid things in store for him.
  John G. Shaffer was born March 25, 1892, in Altoona, Pennsylvania, son of 
John E. and Sarah (Griffith) Shaffer.  His mother was born in Cambria 
County, Pennsylvania, and his father is a native of the same county, and is 
occupied as a railroad engineer.  The son received his education in the 
public and high schools of Altoona, and then attended the University of 
Michigan, where he took up the study of dental surgery, and was graduated 
from this institution of learning, with the degree of Doctor of Dental 
Surgery, class of 1914.  On the completion of his studies, and after 
receiving his degree, he opened his offices in Altoona, and began the 
practice of his profession, which, except for the period of the World War, 
he has continued to follow with an ever growing success, his offices being 
located at No. 1107 1/2 Thirteenth Avenue.  When the great World War was 
entered by the United States, Dr. Shaffer received the commission of first 
lieutenant in the United States Army Dental Corps, serving from August, 
1917, until he received his honorable discharge in June, 1919, with the same 
rank as that in which he entered.  During this time he served for eighteen 
months overseas with the American Expeditionary Forces.  On his return to 
this country, and after receiving his discharge and returning to civilian 
life, he again took up his practice in Altoona, and here he is gaining the 
recognition that he so very well deserves.
  Dr. Shaffer is keenly interested in civic, fraternal and "service" 
affairs, and he is a member of the Masonic Order, belonging to all bodies in 
the York Rite, and also the Jaffa Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the 
Mystic Shrine.  He is also a member of the Xi Psi Phi Fraternity; the 
American Legion; is vice-president of the Central Pennsylvania Dental 
Society; the State and National Dental societies; the Altoona Dental Study 
Club, the Blairmont Country Club, and the Shrine Club.  He attends the First 
Lutheran Church.
  Dr. John G. Shaffer married, in 1917, Esther D. Trout, a native of 
Altoona, daughter of Thomas J. Trout, and they are the parents of three 
children:  John G., Jr., Jean D., and Richard E.