Ida May (Tout, Schneider, Lemberger) Shaffer passed away April 26, 2015, at Life Care Center of Elizabethton. Ida was born on October 4, 1937, in San Joaquin County, Calif., to Mary A. and Thomas C. Tout.
Ida was a member of the Elizabethton, Tenn. community for 28 years. She and her husband James Shaffer “Jim” retired to Elizabethton in 1987. Together they started a wood working and framing business and Ida’s Place on Gap Creek Road. They quickly became a part of this welcoming community. Ida loved making things with her hands, enjoyed quilting, painting, knitting and needle work. She was a strong and independent woman who managed adversity well and applied her strength toward helping others in the community. Ida was married to Jackson C. Schneider and together they had two children. Later, she married Richard R. Lemberger and together they had four children. Ida and her third husband, James L. Shaffer, were married for many years.
Ida was preceded in death by her first husband, Jackson Schneider, and third husband, James L. Shaffer, her parents, and her sister Eva (Tout, Luther) Jones.
She will be remembered by loving friends and family including her son Thomas (Joan) Schneider of Minneapolis, Minn., daughter Mary (Mark) Floyd of Boise, Idaho, son Ivan (Sandy) Lemberger of Hugo, Minn., daughter Yvonne (Lemberger) Baller, son Kenneth (Laura) Lemberger of Johnson City, Tenn., and youngest son Keith (Caroline) Lemberger of Pooler, Ga.; her grandchildren Timothy Schneider, Rachel (Schneider) Garcia, Matthew Schneider, Stephanie (Floyd) Stohel, Mark Floyd II, Joshua Baller, Lairen Baller and Richard L. Lemberger; her great-grandchildren, Evander Garcia, Madeleine Stohel and Gracie Floyd; special niece Nina (Luther, Weldy) Phillips of Folsom, Calif.; and great-niece Sara (Weldy) Estermeyer.
As per Ida’s wishes, there will not be a funeral service. She has donated her body to Restore Life USA to be used for scientific research. At the end of their research, she will be memorialized in service provided by Restore Life USA on a mountain top in Tennessee. Memorial donations may be made to The Estate of Ida Shaffer, c/o Yvonne Baller, 5931 Alameda St., Shoreview, MN 55126.
The strong outpouring of support from her friends as her health deteriorated has been heartwarming to her family. To all of you who sat with Ida during her illness, she and her family thank you.