Gary L. and Kay (Hemmer) Shafer took over Shafer Memorials in 1971 when Gary's father, Clyde N. died of a heart attack while hunting. They became the 4th generation at Shafer Memorials.
When they took over the C.N. Shafer Memorials the office was still a small room off of what used to be the front porch. In 1975 they added a larger office to the South East corner of the house. This addition was sufficient for many years until 1999. When their daughter, Kim Shafer-Swank, came to work with them in 1996 they realized a much larger addition would be needed to accomodate 2 memorial consultions to go on at the same time. The need for computers also came about at that time which would also require the use of more space. In the fall of 1999 they started construction on the larger office addition on the south end of the house.
This addition also included adding computers, an indoor display and room for a much larger outdoor display.
In 2001 they added a CAD computer which is how they now design the memorials. This lets Shafer Memorials provide a proportional 8x10 layout for a customer to view their memorial for them to see how the design will look before it is engraved. This has proven to be one of the best tools for helping customers Shafer Memorials has seen in a long time. The CAD computer also runs a large 30" wide plotter which cuts the design into a stencil for the sandblasting sandblasting process in the shop.
Now we have more time for our consultations with customers, and thus can provide more than One Design for our customers to view.
