Donald A. Shaffer; Retired Truck Driver

Donald A. Shaffer, a truck driver until he was 79, has died in Valencia. He was 83.

Shaffer died Thursday of complications of pneumonia, said his daughter, Barbara Westervelt.

Born on Nov. 12, 1906, in Pearl, Mich., Shaffer worked for the Ford Motor Co. body shop in Detroit before moving in 1939 to San Fernando, where he was hired as a truck driver by San Fernando Refining Co.

Shaffer served in the U.S. Army during World War II, seeing combat in the Philippine and Fiji islands. After his discharge, he moved to Newhall and returned to work as a truck driver for the same company, which had since become the Newhall Refining Co. Inc. In 1951, he became a truck driver for Pacific Intermountain Express.

Shaffer retired in 1971, but in 1982 purchased a truck, which he drove independently for four years. He lived on an acre in Newhall from 1948 until four years ago, when he moved to Valencia.

He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Vivian Shaffer; sons Donald Shaffer of Newhall and James Shaffer of Frazier Park; daughter Barbara Westervelt of Canyon Country; sister Margaret Fields of Venice, Fla.; one grandson and one granddaughter.

A funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m. today at the Chapel of the Oaks at Eternal Valley Memorial Park Mortuary, 23287 N. Sierra Highway in Newhall. Burial will follow at Eternal Valley Memorial Park. Donations can be made in Shaffer’s name to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia.