Harold & Ruth F. Shaffer Scholarship Fund

Harold W. & Ruth F. Shaffer Scholarship Fund

TYPE OF FUND:  Scholarship                       DATE ESTABLISHED:  November 1997

PURPOSE:  To assist one boy and one girl from the senior class at Tucker county High School in furthering their education at any state college or university in West Virginia.

DISTRIBUTION:  To be determined by the Scholarship Committee of TCF with approval of the Board of Directors.

VARIANCE POWER:  If, in the judgment of the TCF Board of Directors, the restrictions and conditions of the fund become unnecessary, incapable of fulfillment or inconsistent with the charitable needs of the community, the TCF Board of Directors maintains the right to modify the terms of this fund.  TCF has exclusive legal control over any contributed assets.

FUNDING:  $20,000 donation from Mr. and Mrs. Shaffer.

BACKGROUND:  Mr. Shaffer, the son of Harry S. and Stella Florence Adams Shaffer, was born May 28, 1907.  The Shaffer family members are natives of Barbour and Preston counties.  A 1926 graduate of Parsons High School, he attended Fairmont State College, West Virginia University and Columbia University.  Mr. Shaffer taught at Parsons High School from 1933 to 1973.  He was responsible for establishing the National Honor Society at the school.  He was also the first sponsor of the Bow Tie club; at the request of Principal Jesse Riley, he sponsored the school newspaper, the Parsons Echo, in 1934; was adviser of the Hi-Y Club for more than ten years; and was class sponsor for the classes of 1942, 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1972.  Mr. Shaffer, a veteran of the United States Army, was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

His wife, the former Ruth Forman, a daughter of Joseph N. and Viola Clarkson Forman, was born Aug. 16, 1912.  The family members are natives of Barbour and Preston counties.  She is a native of Barbour County and a graduate of Philippi High School.  She worked at the First National Bank (now Mountain Valley Bank, NA) in Parsons from 1960 to 1972.

After their retirement in 1972, the couple moved to Philippi where they continue to make their home.

Note:  In addition to the Harold W. & Ruth F. Shaffer Scholarship, Mr. and Mrs. Shaffer in 1983 provided funding for the Herbert W. Clarkson Scholarship, in honor of her uncle; and, at the same time as they established the Shaffer Scholarship, in November 1997, also provided funding for the Mountain Hospice Fund.