[2] His parents relocated their family to Three Rivers, Michigan, where he was raised and attended the public schools.

[1] He was a member of the Indiana Army National Guard in 1916 and 1917, and served on the border with Mexico during the Pancho Villa Expedition, but was rejected on medical grounds for service in World War I.

[1] In the Republican Party primary elections of September 1936 for Michigan's 3rd congressional district, Shafer defeated the incumbent Verner W.

He suffered head and spinal injuries and spent several weeks being treated in both Salem and Youngstown before being flown back to Michigan from Akron aboard an army plane.

[5] He died on August 17, 1954, in Washington, D.C., two weeks after being re-nominated in the Republican primary election to the 84th Congress.