Janet E. Shaffer

Janet E. Shaffer, 76, of Rainsburg Mountain Road, Bedford, passed away in hospice on July 28, 2012 at Donahoe Manor Nursing Home, after a lengthy battle with illness.  She was born on October 28, 1935 in Spring Gap, MD, a daughter of the late Edward Arthur “Pete” and Estella Virginia (Reckley) Taschenberger.  On December 24, 1958 at Mt. Vernon Place Methodist Church in Baltimore, MD, she married Robert L. Ganter of Baltimore, MD.  On May 5, 1984 at the Bedford Presbyterian Church, she married John a Shaffer of Bedford.  She was currently un-married.  She is survived by two sons:  John Ganter married to the former Devon Jercinovic of Albuquerque, NM; and Paul Ganter of the State College area and three grandchildren:  Will, Grace, and Chad.   Two sisters Patricia Wilson of Chestertown, MD; and  Yvonne (Toots) married to Carl “Buck” Robbins of Fort Walton Beach, FL.

Ms. Shaffer attended Oldtown School in MD and graduated from Fort Hill High School in Cumberland MD, She received a Bachelor’s degree in education from Frostburg State Teacher’s College and a Masters in Education from Towson State College in MD.  Ms. Shaffer taught elementary school and science classes in Baltimore City and County.  She taught nature education classes for Baltimore City and county Parks and Recreation  In Oakland, MD she worked for Garrett County Social Services.  She once had an office on the USS Constellation sailing ship in Baltimore Habor.   In Bedford she worked several jobs, retiring from Bedford/Somerset MH/MR.  .  Two of her favorite places to visit were Chiricahua National Monument in Arizona and Big Bend National Park in Texas.  Ms. Shaffer’s love was always nature and the environment, and housed injured owls and hawks in Bedford for a number of years.  She was an avid bird watcher and licensed bird bander for the US Fish and Wildlife Service and did this for many decades.  In recent years she banded migrating saw-whet owls for a research project.  She enjoyed searching for fossils and traveled to Canada, Jamaica, and the Galapagos Islands on nature trips.  She enjoyed flowers and gardening and spent much of her time maintaining her flower beds, woods gardens, and chickens in Cumberland Valley area.

Ms. Shaffer was a member of the Centerville United Methodist Church.  In recent years she played piano for several churches in Cumberland Valley and Rainsburg area.  She enjoyed teaching herself to play violin and flute, and provided piano lessons to children in the area.