BREWER – Betsey (Miller) Shaffer, 92, died Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009, at a Brewer health care facility. Born Aug. 25, 1916, in New Haven, Conn., she was the daughter of Hiram and Minnie (Sweet) Miller. Her early education was in East Orange and Upper Montclair, N.J., and she graduated from Bloomfield High School, New Jersey, in 1932. She attended Bible school at the National Bible Institute, New York City, and graduated in 1941. For years she was engaged in developing religious education programs and served as a missionary in the Kentucky Mountains rural area with a nurse providing ministerial and medical services. Ill health ended this service and she came to Maine to live with her brother, Dr. Waldo B. Miller. In 1947 she enrolled at the University of Maine, Orono, and in 1951 she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley. In 1953 she received a law degree from Blackstone College of Law, Chicago. During the 1950s she began her teaching career in special education and was certified in this field at the University of Maine, and helped in the development of education for the retarded, retiring in 1996. In 1961 she was married to Albert Shaffer of Wichita, Kan., in East Lansing, Mich. Surviving are a niece, Sarah Jane Blake; a nephew, David B. Miller; and sister-in-law, Florence R. Miller. She was predeceased by two brothers, Dr. Waldo B. Miller and Benjamin Miller. Services will be private. Arrangements by Memorial Alternatives, 205 Center St., Bangor.
BETSEY (MILLER) SHAFFER
