Charles Timothy Shaffer of Prospect, a lawyer who served 16 years in the state Senate and five years as a district judge and donated $1 million to Butler County Community College, died Tuesday at his home of natural causes. He was 76.

First elected to represent the 21st District in 1980, Shaffer was re-elected in 1984, 1988 and 1992, serving through 1996. The district encompassed parts of Butler, Lawrence and Venango counties and all of Clarion County.

He was one of the first members of the state Senate who had served in the Vietnam War. He was a first lieutenant in the Army and was awarded a Bronze Star for his service.

In April 2010, then-Gov. Ed Rendell appointed Shaffer to serve the remainder of Slippery Rock District Judge Clifford Woessner’s term, after he retired in March 2009. Shaffer was elected to a full six-year term in 2011, but stepped down at the end of 2015 when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 in October that year.

Shaffer’s $1 million donation to BC3 in 2018 helped establish the Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health that will operate in the $10 million Victor K. Phillips Nursing and Allied Health building, which is under construction on the main campus in Butler Township.

Friends described Shaffer as a generous person who cared about his hometown and was a savvy political strategist.

“Tim was good friend. He was my mentor,” said Jack McMillin, a former county controller. “He'll be missed not only by me, but by the hundreds who had the pleasure of his company.”

He said they’d been friends since they met in 1977, and Shaffer helped him win his first election in 1993 and his second election four years later in what became a 20-year career as controller.

“I never would have become controller without him,” McMillin said.

He said he was an unknown deputy controller in 1993 and Shaffer helped him win the Republican Party nomination in a tough primary against the county’s 911 director.

“Tim got me through it. He said ‘do this, don’t do that.’ ‘No you dummy, don’t put your signs up this early.’ He helped me through two tough elections for my first two terms,” McMillin said. “His memory will stick with me as long as I breath air.”

He described Shaffer as an “institution” in county Republican politics.

“He did much to build the Republican Party in Butler County into what it is today,” McMillin said. “If you wanted to run for office, you contacted Tim first. You wanted Tim Shaffer's support, but more importantly, his advice and counsel. He runs campaigns better than anyone. He was the best. He had his difficult side, but he was loyal to those who were loyal to him.”

He said Shaffer didn’t have children, so McMillin gave his son John the middle name of Timothy, in honor of Shaffer.

“I never would have reached the point I did in political life without Tim Shaffer — it’s as simple as that. For me it’s a terrible loss. It’s difficult for me,” McMillin said.

In addition, he said Shaffer didn’t have to serve in Vietnam because he was left an only child after his brother was killed in a traffic accident, but he volunteered.

He said Shaffer was known for saying “It’s a great life if you don’t weaken.”

“He had a great life, that’s for sure,“ McMillin said.

Art Rauschenberger, who ran Shaffer’s unsuccessful campaigns for Congress in the 1970s and worked as his chief of staff in the Senate, said getting the county out of the state’s auto emissions inspections program was the biggest issue he tackled.

“Tim fought to get us out,” Rauschenberger said.

He said Butler was included in the counties in the Allegheny County region where the state was going to require vehicle owners to have emission inspections, in addition to safety inspections, in the early 1980s.

Shaffer helped organize a petition drive that garnered over 40,000 signatures of residents opposed to emissions inspections in the county, and delivered the petition to then-Gov. Dick Thornburg, he said. Shaffer handed Thornburg the petition in an airport shortly after he landed, he said.

Rauschenberger said Shaffer placed ads containing the petition in the newspaper so people could clip the petitions and took copies of the petition to the Butler County Farm Show and the Big Butler Fair so attendees could sign them. He said people were lining up to sign the petition.

Rauschenberger said Shaffer worked hard in his campaigns and as a Senator, often reading up on and studying issues until the early morning.

“There’s no one who worked harder than he did in campaigns, and he was that way in the Senate,” Rauschenberger said. “I was proud to work for him. He did such a good job. He was a great grassroots person. He was a great symbol of what leadership is.”

State Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-21st, said he met Shaffer eight years before he was elected to the House in 1992, and is preparing to introduce a condolence resolution for Shaffer on the Senate floor.

They met at community events shortly after Hutchinson graduated from college in the early 1980s; “never ever dreaming I would end up in the legislature with him,” he said.

After winning a seat in the House, he said Shaffer helped him “learn the ropes” and they worked together on projects.

“He gave me good advice both personally and professionally. He was a very outspoken and aggressive advocate for our Western Pennsylvania values,” Hutchinson said. “A real leader.”

Nick Neupauer, BC3 president, said Shaffer will live on forever at the college.

Shaffer’s $1 million gift in September 2017 came after his parents, John and Jean Kaufman Shaffer, created the first scholarship at BC3 in memory of Tim’s only sibling, Stephen, who was a member of the college’s first graduating class in 1966. Tim was only 23 years old when he was killed in a crash in 1967.

“His family believed in BC3. His dad was former county commissioner who served on our board many many years ago,” Neupauer said. “Sen. Shaffer and his family believed in our mission, our importance to our entire community. He also served on our foundation board.”

He said he and his wife, Tammy, spent a lot of time with Shaffer and other donors who gave $1 million gifts to the college. He said they were transformational relationships.

“The more time I spent around them the better I became as a president, father and husband. (Shaffer) was a big supporter of me, personally. He will certainly be missed,” Neupauer said.

All of those donors wanted to learn about the college’s vision, financial condition and curriculum, but were not all that interested in having their names attached to their donations, he said.

“I talked about the importance of having their names attached to the gifts because one day we’ll all be gone. I told them, I want your connection to our college and the students to transcend space and time, to go on forever,” Neupauer said. “Fortunately, they agreed. Their names are attached to the college forever.’

Ken Metrick, who is active in the 4-H and Future Farmers of America programs in the county, said Shaffer generously supported both programs.

“He was at every (livestock) sale. He’d buy six to eight animals, but donated the animals back,” Metrick said.

After he returned the livestock to the organizations, the animals were sold to butchers and those proceeds were placed in 4-H and FFA scholarship funds.

“He really loved the kids. He loved the programs. He would never miss an auction. He sat in the same seat every year,” Metrick said. “He was a very generous man.”

Lisa Lotz, the county clerk of courts who lives in Prospect, said Shaffer played a big role in conserving Prospect’s history as a member of the Prospect Preservation Society.

“He was very generous, but didn’t want people to know about it. He just wanted to make things happen,” Lotz said. “Tim did a lot for Prospect.”

In addition to restoring an old farmhouse on the family homestead, where he lived, he led fundraising efforts for the Rube Waddell historical marker in the borough and a time capsule, she said.

He also bought a grinding wheel from the old Roth grain mill that was placed at the old Critchlow Co. general store that serves as the society’s office, and helped replace the roof.

“Anything to do with Prospect, he wanted to see preserved. We lost a great person from Prospect. He grew up there and that’s where he died,” Lotz said. “He was one of the founding members (of the society) and he was the one who made things happen. He'll be missed. He was always thoughtful. He wrote the most prolific thank-you notes. I still have one at my home.”

Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Raisley Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Prospect. His obituary is on Page 7.