About
William Oliver Shaffer, the son of William and Mary (Thompson) Shaffer, was born on October 14, 1909, in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. By 1920, he had relocated to Schenectady with his family. In addition to playing softball for the General Electric and Scotia Fire Department leagues, William was a well-known bowler in the senior and junior merchants leagues of Scotia. He was a firefighter for the Scotia Fire Department and worked for the General Electric Company.
On August 18, 1943, William enlisted in the United States Army and was trained at Camp Van Dorn in Mississippi and Camp Breckinridge in Kentucky. He held the rank of Private and served with the 330th Infantry Regiment, 83rd Infantry Division. On July 15, 1944, William was killed in battle in France. He is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, France.
Sources: The Schenectady Gazette, Find A Grave, Ancestry