Rodeo Royalty

Plans Fueled by Passion

Their support to the Texas A&M University Press is a nod to Shafe’s journalism background. “The internship we’ve endowed is different from a scholarship. It’s a hands-on position for a senior undergraduate at the press that will provide real-world experience in the publishing world,” Shafe said. Founded in 1974, the press is the principal publishing arm of the university with a primary mission to select, produce, market and disseminate high-quality scholarly publications.

Highlighting their love of agriculture and communications, Shafe and Nancy established two endowed scholarship programs in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications. One endowment will benefit students majoring in agricultural communications, while the other will benefit students in all three of the department’s degree curriculums.

The Shafers also decided to establish an endowed scholarship through The Association of Former Students to honor of one of Shafe’s college roommates, Neal “Clint” Ward ’67, an Air Force pilot who was killed in action during the Vietnam War. “This was the perfect opportunity to memorialize Clint and bring recognition to all Aggies who lost their lives in Vietnam,” Shafe added.

In his own service in Vietnam, Shafe served as an Army helicopter pilot where he flew 327 combat sorties. Midway through his Vietnam tour, conflicts between the military and the media prompted the need for select officers experienced with communications and military operations. Shafe took on extra duties serving as a public information liaison and escort pilot to network media correspondents until his tour of duty was over. 

As a nod to his military service, the Shafers established two additional scholarships: an Aggie Veteran Freedom Scholarship to benefit a deserving student veteran or a veteran’s spouse, and a Corps scholarship to support one student throughout their academic career.

Finally, the Shafers chose to create entomology and public health scholarships that tie in with key interests of Nancy’s. “I was a biology and science teacher, but even from a young age, I was interested in insects and gardening. After I retired, I continued that passion through the Fort Bend County Master Gardeners,” she said. A program administered through the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Master Gardeners throughout the country work to educate the public about the many aspects of gardening and to inform adults and children about the unique lives of insects and their importance to food production and public health.

“We would encourage all Aggies who are considering planned gifts to look at something like this,” Shafe said. “It gives you the freedom to say, ‘Here’s how we would like our estate to help Texas A&M.’ It’s also fluid in that you can pay some now instead of later. Whether it’s life insurance, IRA distribution rollovers, planned giving or active gifts, there’s a way to help Aggies now and in the future.”

Today, Shafe prefers to stay out of the limelight and focus on his other interests—particularly photography—but he and Nancy feel confident in their planned gift and content to have their legacy at Texas A&M established. You could say it’s their last rodeo.

To learn more about creating a planned gift, contact Angela Throne '03, gift planning officer, below.