He was born August 14, 1926 in Batavia, New York to John Lafler and Edith Lambke Lafler.
Mr. Lafler graduated from Batavia High School in 1943, where he was a standout football and track athlete and was on the yearbook staff. He was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II in 1945, and served for two years, rising to the rank of sergeant. At the end of his term of duty he turned down an officer's commission to return to college. He graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio with a Bachelor’s degree in business in 1949.
In July 1951, Mr. Lafler married Shirley Rogers of LeRoy, New York.
He enjoyed a career in retail management, rising to Vice President and CEO posts at various department store chains, where he was an innovator in marketing and management practices.
In 1983, he relocated to Sandwich, MA where he opened a retail consultant firm, the Sandwich Bay Company, working with major retailers in the New England area. Mr. Lafler also became an adjunct professor at Cape Cod Community College and taught Retail Management and Advertising classes for 20 years, passing on his business expertise and knowledge to the subsequent generations.
Mr. Lafler was active for many years in the life of the Corpus Christi Parish in Sandwich, serving in the area of managing church finances. He was instrumental in the process of establishing the current parish building complex, working as a member of the committee that selected the architect, decided on the design, and helped oversee the project from start to finish. His faith life was very important to him and he devotedly prayed for his loved ones and all that he cared about his whole life long.
He is preceded in death by son John F. Lafler. He is survived by Shirley Rogers Lafler, beloved wife of 68 years, his children Mary Lafler James, Steven Lafler, Nancy Elizabeth Lafler, and Judy Lafler Converse, grandchildren Dorian James, Daniel James Bandit, Christian James, Molly James Banasiak, Ben Converse, Maxwell Lafler and Genevieve Lafler, and great-grandchildren Wolf Bandit, Juniper Bandit, and Julian James.
