Leatrice Olivia Shuman Haffner

1925-2017

Leatrice Shuman Haffner died on August 18 in Athens, GA, one week shy of her 92nd birthday. Leatrice walked every day, worked out with a personal trainer, and entertained her Facebook fans as “Lil Mama Eats” before she was disabled by a stroke on January 6. She was pampered until the end by her daughter, Patricia Thomas, and daughter-in-law Meriwether Rhodes, of Athens, and remained in her home until mid-July.

Leatrice Olivia Shuman Thomas Maxwell Magic Haffner was an extraordinary educator who was once honored as Florida’s Teacher of the Year and who served as state president of Delta Kappa Gamma, a national honorary society for women educators. She retired from teaching in 1973 but was “locally underfoot,” to borrow a phrase from Eudora Welty. Leatrice belonged to numerous organizations and was especially proud of her work with Florida’s Girl’s State program, which teaches young women to campaign for and hold political office. For three decades, she organized the selection of Girl’s State delegates sent to Tallahassee by Wall-Rives Post 58 of the American Legion. Leatrice was also an activist, and in 1984 led a crusade to block private development of Dunnellon’s City Beach, which today remains free and open to the public thanks to her efforts.

Leatrice Olivia Shuman was born on August 25, 1925 to George W. and Olivia Toffaletti Shuman. She is survived by her older sister Gloria Gaines of Summerfield, FL, and her younger sisters Nina Shuman of Sebring and Sandra Pilon of Denver. Sandra was at Lea’s bedside in Athens as the end neared. The Shumans believed in women’s education and all four daughters graduated from college.

Lea followed her sister Gloria to Florida State College for Women during wartime and graduated in 1947, the year FSCW became FSU. She married Joseph A. Thomas, an Air Force pilot, returned to Dunnellon to teach, and gave birth to Patricia, her only child. The marriage ended in divorce.

Now a single mother, Lea taught school, worked part time at the Dunnellon Post Office, and earned a master’s degree in education by taking summer courses at the University of Florida. There she met Russell M. Maxwell, a Navy veteran studying to become a mathematics teacher. They married in 1955, and together became leaders in teacher organizations and educational causes.

In the late Fifties, Lea took courses in geology and art at the University of New Mexico, where National Science Foundation fellowships made it possible for Russell to earn a second master’s degree in mathematics. She also built a modest collection of Navajo rugs and Puebla pottery. Additional fellowships later took the Maxwells to summer school at Southern Illinois University and Michigan State University.

Lea was the only Shuman daughter who made her permanent home in Dunnellon, and she spent much of the 1970s and 80s as a caregiver. She looked after her father during a series of strokes that claimed him in 1983. In 1986, Russell was diagnosed with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease and she cared for him until 1993, a devastating year marked by the death of her mother in July and her husband in October. She was heartbroken, but not finished.

Lea always said, “I love men, and men know that.” Not surprisingly, she married two more times after Russell’s death. She met Frank Magic, a retired deli owner from Chicago, at St. John’s Catholic Church in Dunnellon. They married in 1995 and she officially became “Mrs. Magic,” a name that suited her perfectly. Lea and Frank were together until his death in 2000.

She later met Irwin Haffner, a retired Army medic who earned a Purple Heart in Korea, over “senior coffee” at MacDonald’s. They married in in 2003 and lived in Dunnellon until his dementia made driving unwise; in November 2008 they moved next door to Pat and Meriwether in Beechwood Hills. Lea and Irwin became well known in the Alps Road shopping district and in their neighborhood: they promenaded together, hand-in-hand, Irwin sporting his Florida Gators regalia. Irwin died in 2012, and after a slump Lea embraced life once more with the expert assistance of Susan Harper. She worked out with trainer Frank Badia twice a week, used her computer with help from Julie Gaines, and always looked beautiful thanks to Monique Adams.

Although she was always a small town girl, Lea became an enthusiastic traveler – especially in Italy, home of her Toffaletti and Giotto ancesters. She, Pat and Meriwether traveled to Italy eight times and to England once. In 1999, Lea and Pat fulfilled a shared dream by exploring the Galapagos together.

In addition to her three sisters, Lea is survived by eight nieces and nephews, eight first cousins, and their numerous offspring.

Lea was a lifelong Democrat who proudly exercised her vote in every election. Barack Obama was her favorite U.S. president and she had hoped to live long enough to see a woman hold that office. In her memory, please make contributions to Democratic candidates or organizations of your choice. If your beliefs make that impossible, please do something generous for someone – no matter how small the gesture.