VENICE, Fla. — Harold I. “Hal” Schafer, 86, died at home in Venice, Fla., on Dec. 22, 2021, after a short battle with leukemia.

He was born in Toledo, Ohio on April 5, 1935, to Alice Schafer and William Schafer. He graduated from Waite High School in 1953 and the University of Toledo in 1960. He worked in industrial sales, owned a business, was a math teacher, and sold insurance and securities. He is a past resident of Middlebury and Shoreham, Vt.

After retiring he moved with his wife Donna to Oxford, N.C., where they were very active in breeding, showing and fieldwork with their dachshunds. After she retired they moved to Venice, Fla., in 2015. He loved working with his hands, remodeling homes, helping family and friends with projects, gardening, doing jigsaw puzzles, playing tennis, and spending time on the beach and with his beloved dachshunds. He was a member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Venice, Fla.

He is survived by his wife Donna Schafer; his four children, Michelle Carr, Julie Schafer, Michael Schafer, and Tom Schafer; step-children Tracy DeBarr, Natalie Krizo and Brent Krizo; and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

His ashes will be interned in the Memorial Garden at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Venice and in Brookline, Vermont. ◊