Charles Norton Shaffer, Jr

Boulder City, Nevada – Charles N. Shaffer, Jr, passed away Monday, May 20 th at Nathan Adelson Hospice. He was born December 24th, 1938, in Houston, Texas to Charles N. Shaffer, Sr. and Grace Fowler Shaffer.

 He was raised in Houston, Texas, and came to Las Vegas in 1957 on a limited contract as a pianist in a rock and roll band, but ended up relocating and spending the next 6 decades playing in every casino on The Strip. He ran his own dance band, while also working with Jackie Gleason, June Taylor, Ben Vereen, Lola Folana and others as rehearsal pianist and Musical Director. He has accompanied Peggy Lee, Debbie Reynolds, Dean Martin, Steve Lawrence, Don Cherry, Robert Goulet, Joe Williams, and others. He appeared in a Warner Bros. movie, on the Dick Clark Show and other musical variety TV shows. He has also written orchestral arrangements for the TV shows of Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin, Sammy Davis Jr, and Joey Bishop, as well as for live performance by the Houston Symphony Pops Orchestra.

 He was preceded in death by his first wife, Shirley Crusan Shaffer, with whom he had two children, Michael C. Shaffer and Laura J. Shaffer, and his only sibling, Carol Shaffer Koock. He is survived by his second wife, Martha Anderson, and his two aforementioned children.

 Services will be on Tuesday, June 25th at 2:00 pm at Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City, Nevada. Friends and colleagues are welcome to share a brief story or memory at the service. We also invite friends to leave memories and condolences at www.starmortuary.com