Robert Eugene Sheaffer

Robert Sheaffer died June 8 in Mt. Angel, Ore. He was 84.

Born Dec. 2, 1925, in Harrisburg, Pa., to a family of 10 siblings, he enlisted in the Navy during World War II and served on a submarine as the ship's cook. Upon his return to civilian life, Sheaffer completed high school, and then attended St. Francis College in Pennsylvania, the University of Arkansas and San Jose State, studying mathematics and physics.

Sheaffer’s professional career in applied mathematics as a computer programmer began with LLNL, and NASA-Ames Research Center from 1956-1977, where he worked on the Apollo mission to put a man on the moon, among other projects.

He married Doris Yvonne Settle of Kansas Cit, in 1959 in Palo Alto. She preceded him in death on Oct. 17, 2004.

Sheaffer was an epicure and wine collector, modernist, golfer, bowler, gardener, fifth wheeler and lover of noir mysteries.

He developed a first-generation solar home incorporating permaculture concepts in California after his retirement in 1980. He and his wife moved to Florence, Stayton, Salem and Sublimity, Ore., before moving to Mt. Angel in 2007. He was a member of the Elks Lodge.

He is survived by sisters, Meda, Pat, Clairie and Betty; brothers, Jack and Don; and nieces and nephews.

Private services were held.