Irene Langpaul Schafer

Irene Langpaul Schafer, 92, of Columbia, passed away Friday, February 26, 2016. Visitation will be held at Noon on February 29, 2016, with a Funeral Mass to follow at 1:00 at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 903 Bernadette Dr., Columbia. She will be buried at Memorial Park Cemetery at 1217 Business Loop 70W. Irene was born January 3, 1924, in Omaha, Nebraska to James Langpaul and Julia Baigl Langpaul, but was raised in Wilber, the Czech capital of Nebraska. Julia always told stories of Irene's free spirit and adventurous yearnings, demonstrated by the time she laid down in the middle of the main street of Wilber at the age of 3 just to see what the cars would do. Irene received Scholarship pins every year in school for her high grades and she earned her RN at St. Joseph School of Nursing at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, Nurse Cadet Class of '47. Irene met her husband, Dallas Dale Schafer, WWII Veteran, in 1947 in Lincoln, Nebraska and they married in June of 1948. He was her best friend. They had six children and lived in a variety of places in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Missouri in connection with Dallas' assignments with the USDA Soil Conservation Service. Irene worked off and on as a nurse while also raising her large family. She was known for making all the meals from scratch, along with wonderful Czech Kolaches and pecan rolls, which she made late at night, the aroma tempting us one by one to sample them. Irene took after her mother with her love of vegetable gardening, canning the produce and tending to a large flower garden. Preceded in death by her father, 76, her mother, 104, her sister Mildred, 89, and her husband, 63, Irene is survived by: three sons --John (and his wife Marcia) of Columbia, Alan of Phoenix, AZ, and James (and his wife Maria Elena) of Ft. Lauderdale, FL; and three daughters -- Julie Helgerson of Little Rock, AR, Nancy (and her husband Bob Agee) of Charlotte, NC, and Janet of The Woodlands, TX. She is also survived by eight grandchildren-- Paul, Steve, Sara, Juliana, Mark, Ryan, Camila and Paloma, and three great-grandchildren--Velouria, Tristan and Jasmin. The family would like to thank the staff at Boone Hospital for their caring and compassion in her final days. Donations can be made to Father Tolton Catholic High School or Father Flanagan Home for Boys in her name.