Born October 20 ,1915 - Died December 30, 2014 - Resident of San Jose.
On December 30, 2014, Louis Schafer passed away quietly at his San Jose assisted living home with Hilda, his wife of 77 years, by his side. He began his career as a teamster and ended his career as a state of California executive. He is survived by his wife, three children, four grandchildren, three great grandchildren, and three great great grandchildren. He had recently celebrated his 99th birthday.
As a child in Memphis, Tennessee, Louis Cremelle Schafer was adopted by Frank Fulton Schafer (1880- 1937) and his wife Corda Mae Schafer, née Voils (1885-1969). His birth mother, Margaret Sisney, died very young. Margaret gave Louis a beautiful pop-up book about farm life that he always kept in his dresser drawer. Frank and Corda Schafer, who together with Frank’s father, John J. Schafer, owned a grocery store in Memphis, took in Louis and his older brother Walter Lee Hackworth, as well. Frank and Corda, both originally from Illinois, had married in Los Angeles in 1907. The family of five relocated back to Los Angeles in 1924, the year they adopted Louis.
After Louis graduated from Van Nuys High School in June 1932 with good grades, he attended Santa Monica Junior College. While working for Borden’s Dairy Delivery Company in the Los Angeles area from 1935-1939, he courted the love of his life Hilda Maren Peterson. They had known each other in elementary school (Sepulveda Grammar School), although she attended San Fernando High School. After graduating from different high schools, they found each other again when Louis recognized Hilda on a city bus. After a wedding ceremony October 20, 1937 at the home of Hilda’s parents, Soren and Johanne Peterson, they established their own home in West Los Angeles. During the 1940s Louis worked for Challenge Cream and Butter Association. He continued taking college courses part time while supporting his wife and first two children, Louis, Jr., and Antonina. At the end of World War II, with three dependents, and after finishing three and a half years of college, he was drafted into the US Army March 31, 1945. He served in the Philippine Islands with the 86th Infantry Division during the early months of the occupation. He received an honorable discharge from the US Army May 9, 1946. He resumed his studies and graduated from UCLA in 1947 with a BA degree the same year a third child Elena was born in Los Angeles.
From 1948 to 1952 Louis worked for the Bureau of Milk Control of the State of California in Los Angeles as an investigator. He was transferred by the State to Fresno for two years as a senior investigator and district supervisor, and continued his education using correspondence courses. In 1954, while living in Fresno, he received a master’s degree in political science from the University of Southern California. His master’s thesis was an analysis of milk marketing in the state of California. He was transferred to Sacramento where he continued to work for the Department of Agriculture. In 1956, Louis and Hilda bought a house in Sacramento where they lived for 54 years. From 1956 – 1957 he was a milk economist for the state. He was promoted first to assistant chief in 1958 and then chief of the renamed Bureau of Milk Stabilization in 1961. In the 1960s, Lou, as he was always called, was actively writing about the dairy industry and participating in conferences along with faculty from UC Davis and UC Berkeley. He was committed to making milk readily available to children in schools, and he avidly protected quality and health standards in the dairy industry. To meet the newly emerging market trends, he promoted the production and use of low fat milk and dairy products. In 1969 he was appointed Deputy Assistant Director, Division of Marketing Services with direct responsibility for three milk bureaus. In 1972 he was promoted to Assistant Director for Marketing Services. In 1973 he completed 25 years of service to the state of California after steadily rising through the ranks. In 1976 he became Assistant Director for Plant Industry. He retired in 1977 after 30 years with the California State Department of Agriculture.
After retiring, Lou bought an acre of land on the edge of Sacramento’s city limits as a hobby farm where he sank a well and planted pecan and almond trees, apricots and all kinds of citrus, as well as vegetables. He built a grape arbor so that Hilda could sit in the shade when she visited him during his work day. Harvests were plentiful and shared widely with family and friends. He believed that growing and enjoying fresh produce was one of life’s great pleasures. Lou and Hilda hosted lavish Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for the extended family at their home in Sacramento. In 2005 they hosted Lou’s 90th birthday party.
In 2010 they moved to Lincoln Glen Manor in San Jose and continued to keep in touch with their three children (Louis Cremelle Schafer, Jr., Antonina Esposito, and Elena Schafer Danielson), four grandchildren (Eugene Schafer, Heidi Cremelle, Sasha Esposito San Roman, and Erik Danielson) three great grandchildren (Kalie, Colby and Gabrielle Schafer), and three great great grandchildren (Jaedyn Schafer, Jax Gamez, and Lyanna Gamez). Hilda and Lou celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary at Lincoln Glen on October 20, 2012.
A celebration of Louis Schafer’s life will be held at the Lincoln Glen chapel in San Jose on January 11, 2015 at 3pm. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Lincoln Glen Assisted Living.
- Elena S. Danielson, December 31, 2014
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