Ruth Darlene (Kelsey) Shafer

Ruth (Darlene) Kelsey Shafer passed away peacefully on November 30, 2023, at her home in Whitney, Texas at the age of 86. A memorial service will be held at the Marshall and Marshall Funeral Directors in Whitney, Texas on December 16th at 2:00 pm and a gathering for family and friends at her residence immediately after. We suggest Forget Me Not Flowers next door as they have been so kind and caring toward our family.

Darlene was born in El Paso, Texas on July 12, 1937. She lived on the Rio Grande River until around age five where she and her mother would cross on horseback to Mexico to visit friends and get fresh tortillas. Shortly after that time her family moved to Sierra Blanca, where her father built a nice house for his family. She was baptized at the Methodist Church and attended Sierra Blanca school until the eighth grade. They moved to Meridian where her father bought a ranch. In her senior year they moved to Clifton where she played on the basketball team and the tennis team that went to the state tournament then graduated in 1955, Sterling shared a memory that she was the first girl to come to Clifton wearing a western belt with her last name Kelsey on the back. The town loved her, and she made many lifetime friends. She then attended Southwest University in San Marcos for two years then went on to Northwest Texas University and studied interior design for a year.

Darlene moved back to Clifton where she met and married Sanger Douglas Shafer on December 31st, 1958. In 1960 they moved to Abilene and had her parents come for Thanksgiving. It was Darlene's first Thanksgiving dinner to make, and she remembers that her dressing was green because she had put too much sage in it. They eventually moved back to Whitney and then in 1967 made the big move to Tennessee so Sanger could pursue his songwriting career. Darlene is co-writer to songs such as "Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind" cut by George Strait and "Yesterday Just Passed My Way Again" cut by Don Everly and Lefty Frizzell just to name a few. After her divorce in 1979 she moved back to Central Texas. Her hobbies include oil painting, writing, family history, cooking and making memorable picture treasures for her family but most of all, embracing her family and loving on her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Darlene was loved by so many, and she had a heart the size of Texas. She was so cheerful and kind to all who knew her and loved by all her family and friends. We take solace in knowing that she is with Jesus and with the loved ones who have gone before her. She led an extraordinary life with honesty, integrity, compassion, and love.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Charles Edgar Kelsey, and Christine Kelsey Prine.

Darlene is survived by her love of 10 years, Sterling Smith; three children, Cristina Shafer Niswanger, Paula and Bart Griffith, and Douglas and Lisa Shafer; her beloved grandchildren, Cherish and Travis Fanning, Jason Niswanger, and his fiancée, Krizan Propst, Shane Shafer, Raymond and Kasey Shafer, Jacquelyn Niswanger, Paul Niswanger and his fiancée, Cassie Arnold, Charlie Jay, Larry and Amanda Young and Tiffany Young; her great grandchildren, Hayley Jo Matus, Logan Fanning, Riley Fanning, Ava Shafer, Austin Shafer, Atreus Shafer, Marley Rose Pack, Braydon Young, Chelsie and Carlee Kilgore and Ashton Young. She was loved so much by her cousins, nieces, and nephews and her love for them is immeasurable.