GEORGE ROBERT SCHAFER
Born May 27th, 1953 – Died Jan. 15th, 2026
George Robert Schafer was the firstborn son of Robert and Elenor Schafer, formally known as Elenor Schoenauer of Tulare. George’s father soon became a commercial fisherman.
George did not start school until the 6th grade in Foresthill, CA. At the age of 15, George’s father passed away. His mother relocated the family to Tulare, CA, to be around her family.
George graduated from Tulare Union High School in Tulare, CA. It was there that George met the former Sandra K. Holland. After high school, George and Sandy got married. In June of 1973, George enlisted in the Air Force as a civil engineer Carpenter. His first assignment was at Vanderburg AFB in California. George was later assigned to Korat AFB in Thailand. From there, he went on to be stationed with the Air Force, at the following locations: Plattsburgh, NY, Elmendorf AFB in Alaska, Mac Dill AFB in Tampa, FL, Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, NV, then finally at Malstrom AFB in Great Falls, MT. George cross trained to be a First Sergeant and was assigned to the Stealth Fighter wing at Area 51 in Nevada just before Desert Storm. After 26 years in the Air Force, George retired from Malstrom AFB. After retirement George and Sandy moved back to Visalia, CA, and bought a house where they currently live. George and Sandy had 2 very fine boys, Henry and Jimmy. After college both went on to work for GE Transportation. They both excelled with GE and became shop managers, superintendents, Vice President of Operations, and so on. Both have run some of the largest locomotive shops in North America. George is survived by his loving wife, Sandy Schafer, and his 2 boys, Henry and Jimmy. George is grandfather to 5 grandchildren starting with Henry’s kids, their first and oldest Keely Schafer, then their twins, Henry Schafer Jr and Payge Schafer. Jimmy’s kids are his oldest Jaxon Schafer, and his sister, Harper Schafer. George had numerous remote assignments where he gained recognition Air Force wide, as the Paso Butler building expert. George and 18 civilian carpenters traveled to seven air bases in Thailand to take down the Paso Bulter buildings. They were also used to open a new air base in a location of the south Pacific Diego Garcia. The site was used for heavy bombers during the Vietnam war. After George’s retirement from the US Air Force, he went to work for a company that specialized in Telecommunications projects. He went on to work for several telecom giants such as Nextel, MCI World Com, Verizon,
Equinox and finally T Mobile, where he built their switching facilities. He quickly became the “go to” engineer for telecom switches and data centers. He retired again in 2022 but continued to work from time to time with smaller projects. Anyone that knew him would understand that he was a legend, even if it was in his own mind at times. He will be forever missed, loved but not forgotten!
Graveside Service will take place on Friday, January 30th at 1:00 p.m. at Tulare District Cemetery located at 900 E. Kern Ave, Tulare, CA 93274. A reception will follow and is being held at The Gardens located at 950 N. J St, Tulare, CA 93274.