Marthe Therese’ Shafer, 87, Salina, passed on to her heavenly home on Tuesday October 11, 2022, surrounded by her family.

Marthe was born on May 2, 1935, in La Rochelle, France to Gottlieb and Agnes Misch. At the age of three, World War II swept across Europe, and shortly after the path of Marthe’s life would be forever changed. Marthe’s parents had immigrated to France from Poland in the 1920’s. Her father was unfortunately a victim of the Nazi invasion into France and presumed deported to most likely the Dachau concentration camp, never to be heard from again.  After her father was deported, Marthe’s mother suffered an unknown illness causing her to be bed ridden, and she lived out the remainder of her short life in a nursing home. Marthe and her two older sisters were taken in by a local orphanage, ran by the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.

Marthe loved to talk about her life in France. As her short-term memory faded in the last few years, her memories of her childhood and France were more vivid than ever. In 1940, the Germans invaded her small, picturesque port town of La Rochelle, which was also the very last town liberated in France at the end of the war in 1945. She would recount the memory of hearing the Nazi soldiers marching and the sound their boots made hitting the ground. They had little food as the German army took every bit of sustenance they could, leaving the residents to starve. She was most afraid of the dark and being left alone. She recalled being terrified as a small child when the sirens would blare with incoming air raids. The orphans were taken to shelter in the darkness of the cellar until the sirens would subside. When the fighting became too severe to remain there, the orphanage was moved about 60 miles into France, which she recalled as being a welcome change. There she discovered her love for nature and having fresh fruit and vegetables from the garden they grew. Within a week of leaving La Rochelle, the orphanage she was living in was bombed, and when they returned at the end of the war, it was a pile of rubble. She also recounted narrowly escaping certain death when the Nazi’s came to her orphanage to take away all the children of Polish and Jewish heritage. The nuns changed her paperwork disguising her name, and she hid in the cellar with her two sisters until they left.

At the age of 16, she graduated from the orphanage with the clothes on her back, and a small amount of money in her hand. She spent many of those first nights scared and alone, sleeping on benches at the park or local train station. She eventually found her first job as a live-in nanny and housekeeper, giving her a roof over her head, a warm bed, and plenty of food.

Marthe met and went on to marry her first husband, James, an American soldier stationed in her town, and together they had nine children. At the age of 22, she set out on her first big adventure to travel across the ocean aboard the Queen Mary, to start a new life in America. Her name can be found among the tens of millions of immigrants at Ellis Island today.

She knew little English as she settled into her new home, and she loved to tell everyone that she learned to speak English from watching “I Love Lucy” on television. She lived on numerous military bases around the world, including Germany, France, Alabama, Virginia, Maryland, Hawaii, Washington, North Carolina, Ft. Riley, and finally Schilling Air Force Base in Salina, KS.

Her husband James, passed away after serving two tours in Vietnam, and suffering from Agent Orange complications.  She met her second husband Dale, while working as a housekeeper at the Howard Johnson Motel, and together they had two daughters.

Marthe would say the biggest accomplishments in her life were being able to travel and see the world and becoming a mother to eleven children whom she loved with her whole heart. She lived a simple life, never having wealth, but giving generously to anyone in need including strangers, and thanking God for being by her side every moment of her life. She leaves behind a beautiful legacy of 80 descendants at this time, and she will be remembered dearly by those of us who knew and loved her.

Marthe was preceded in death by her parents, her sisters Agnes and Alfreda, her husband James Shafer, and her eldest son Dr. James Shafer.

She is survived by her husband, Dale Barras, and her children;  Beatriz “Betty” Cory (Roger) Corpus Christi, Texas; Steve Shafer, Texas; Anthony “Tony” Shafer, Salina; Sylvia Senecal, Salina; Phillip Shafer, Kansas City; Francine Climer, Salina; Michael Shafer (Aimee), Minneapolis, KS; Robert Shafer, Missouri; Monique Herbel (Kurt), Salina; and Claudale Arterburn (Brian), Wichita.  Marthe is also survived by 29 grandchildren and 40 great grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, October 15th, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at Ryan Mortuary. The service will also be streamed on Facebook Live. Burial will follow at Gypsum Hill Cemetery.

Visitation will be Friday, October 14th, 2022, from 4 to 7 p.m. with family present from 5 to 7 p.m.

Memorial donations can be made to Interim Hospice of Salina in her honor.