Surrounded by family, Carole Judith Schafer of Bayside, passed from this earth into the gates of heaven on Friday, November 8, 2024, at the age of 80.
Carole was born in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 17, 1944. She grew up in Lodi, California with her parents, Harry and Vera Christensen, and siblings Lewis Christensen, Gary (Amy Lou) Christensen and Jan Christensen. After she graduated high school, she met her husband Forrest Arthur Schafer when they were paired together as tennis partners. Forrest & Carole married and moved to Bayside, where they proceeded to be lifelong partners. They would have celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary on June 26.
When they arrived in Humboldt, Carole began working at Eureka Orthopedic Group for Doctors Hitchko and Grigorieff. A short two years later her and Forrest began their family which prompted her to leave their employ to raise her children and run a daycare out of her home. After 16 years and countless children (she often recalled that half the children on the Freshwater Elementary School bus got off at her driveway), she gave up daycare and went back to working outside of the home, processing claims at Humboldt Del Norte Foundation for Medical Care (now known as Humboldt IPA). She retired from there after more than 10 years to join Forrest with their real pride and joy, spending time with their grandchildren…