George J. Schafer Sr.

George Schafer Sr. was born in Philadelphia, PA, to parents, Wilhelm and Elizabeth Schafer. He graduated from Father Judge in 1973. George continued his education, graduating from Marist College with a degree in Education. George was an Entrepreneur and Business Man, he founded Eastern Manufacturing, Inc. (Eastern Catalytic) in Langhorne, PA and built the business for over 40 years. George never missed a single important moment in the lives of all of his family and friends.

George was from humble beginnings, raised in a small row home in Philadelphia. He was a man among men and a gentleman among women. Engrained in his character was a strong sense of empathy, which made him one of the most caring, sharing, and loving people on earth. This was evident with his family and friends, but also in sports, and business. It always felt good to be in his presence. George also had paramount inner strength and drive to succeed in everything he did.

Most important to George were the people around him. He treated every person he met with dignity and respect. George would often tell a story about someone he just met and, without knowing the other person more than a few minutes, George would say “He’s just a great guy!” Within those few minutes George’s smile, gentleness, and charisma would quickly break through the persona of the other person. This would expose the person’s true self in a way that that felt safe and warm – and so the response George would receive was a genuine, heartfelt response akin to neighbors in a small town. So it is in fact true that every person George met was a ‘great person’ because he brought out the good in them, even if just for a moment. George spoke highly of everyone.

George loved his family more than words can describe. Family, friends, and good people were at the top of his priorities. Nothing, absolutely nothing, was more important than family. He also loved Disney World because of the joy it would bring to children. He could not get enough of seeing smiles on people’s faces. His family often joked that his happy place would be at Disney World being a greeter at the door. George could strike up a conversation with anyone and found the good in everyone.

In his younger days George was an excellent athlete. His size and power combined with the utmost determination and endurance made George sought after by various coaches of various sports starting in high school. Groomed as a center lineman football player for Father Judge high school, he was later recruited by the rowing coach to see if he could pull harder than he could push.

George quickly made the varsity 8 team, and in 1972 went on to race in the largest head race in the world, the Head of the Charles. Teams competed in their age groups including veteran rowers, collegiate rowers, clubs, and youth. That year George and his teammates were the Princeton Trophy Winners at the Head of Charles and finished third overall in Intermediate Eights.

In the summer of 1973 George was invited to join the Vesper Boat Club and traveled to Nottingham, England to represent the United States of America at the World Rowing Junior Championships. From there he was accepted into Marist College where he rowed for four years as a top collegiate athlete.

After Marist, George moved back to Philadelphia and was invited to join the Vesper Boat Club again. Traditionally the college or club with the best overall team would represent the USA as one boat. However, in the late 1970’s the United States decided to form an ‘official’ US Rowing team by selecting individuals from different teams to form one boat. 1980 was a transition year where the national team had been formed, but because this was newly structured and did not account for all teams and clubs, the committee decided that the US national team would still have to compete against the ‘best teams’ in America. The team that won in the trials would then become the US National Team for the 1980 Olympics. The story is told that at that time George’s boat at Vesper Boat Club had a better time in recent races than the US Rowing Team. The US Olympic trials were set to begin when President Carter announced the US would boycott the Olympics in Moscow due to geopolitical reasons. The story was never written, and the truth will never be told about the best team in 1980. The only thing we know for certain is that George was among the greatest.

George had a brilliant mind, sometimes hidden beneath his loss for words. So he pursued entrepreneurship where the long game would benefit his strategic ideas and his empathy for others would help him build relationships much stronger than any contract could. That’s not to say his path was without resistance. George was a leader in the aftermarket automotive world, helping the industry pioneer emissions controls for vehicles. In an emerging market in the 1970’s through the 80’s George was steadfast in building a compliant business while managing the cash flow needed to do so. He succeeded yet again.

Strategy and Sales were by far his strongest traits. George mastered the art of co-manufacturing relationships often finding win-win-win structured deals that lasted a lifetime. His legacy will live on the automotive industry through the thousands of people he has impacted.

George’s life is a summary of how we should model ourselves as individuals. George had the determination and persistence to find happiness in everything he was doing, often things he was doing for others. George lived a great life and died peacefully in the arms of his family. He now rests with his daughter Jennifer, who has long waited to greet him again and feel his warm presence that we so dearly miss.

George was preceded in death by his daughter Jennifer A. Schafer, and his parents Wilhelm T. Schafer and Elizabeth N. Schafer (nee Dudinetz).

George is survived by his wife Jody A. Schafer; his sons: George J. Schafer, Jr. (Anali B. Schafer) and Christopher M. Schafer, Sr. (Elizabeth N. Schafer); his grandchildren: George J. Schafer, III, Christopher M. Schafer, Jr., Martina A. Schafer, Jackson O. Schafer, Vienna K. Schafer, Kathryn E. Schafer; and his siblings: William J. Schafer, Kenneth T. Schafer, and Diane Schafer.

A memorial mass for George will be held on Saturday, September 14, 2024 at 11:00am at St. James Roman Catholic Church, 115 E Delaware Avenue, Pennington, NJ 08534. A reception will be held in New Hope, PA following the service.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in George's memory may be made to Make -A-Wish and Disney, 1702 E. Highland Avenue, Suite 400, Phoenix, Arizona 85016 US, https://wish.org/disney.