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Heart of Glass - Blenko Glass

Blenko Glass is a West Virginia treasure that spans generations. Nothing symbolizes the state of West Virginia better or more beautifully than Blenko Glass. We will discuss current and former craftsmen and designers and how important it is that Blenko and West Virginia glass be appreciated and valued by the younger generation.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Remembering a Blenko Project Board Member




Jeff Schaffer, corporate leader in advocating for the employment of people with disabilities, Blenkophile, beloved to his family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers, passed away unexpectedly on December 17, 2011, at age 52.  Just before he died, he became a member of the Blenko Project board and already was contributing his ideas, suggestions, and time to creating an accurate database of provenance files.  Jeff cared very much about the historical integrity of items advertised as Blenko, sometimes correcting online listings that misrepresented them (diplomatically and using his online identity, as a few of you, who are reading this obituary, may have experienced).

Jeff was born and raised in suburban Chicago, son of an architect and teacher. He earned both bachelors and masters degrees at American University in public administration Washington, DC, and settled in the area, where he remained for the rest of his life. He and his wife owned a weekend home in West Virginia, where he first was introduced to Blenko glass.

At the time of his death, Jeff had recently retired as a Principal at the international management-consulting firm, Booz Allen Hamilton, where he worked for 27 years.  In the early years, he managed and led projects for the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration.  On December 31, 1996, Jeff’s life and work focus changed forever: A college student, who was adjusting her car radio, hit Jeff’s truck head-on, coming around a curve on a winding West Virginia mountain highway. After a month in the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Unit, he fought his way back to work six months later through multiple surgeries and physical therapy, vowing to change corporate culture after being disabled by the accident.

Jeff became a champion of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and approached his CEO, Ralph Shrader, with the idea of forming a task force and creating and implementing a corporate model for employing people with disabilities. He cited the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities: 'People with disabilities are the nation's largest minority, and the only one that any person can join at any time.'  Jeff later served on the President’s Committee during both the Clinton and Bush administrations.

Jeff was featured in Business Week magazine as the recipient of the 1999 U.S. Industry-Labor Council’s (ILC) National Center for Disability Services’ Manager of the Year award, given to him by Bill Gates, and was one of a handful of Booz Allen employees to receive the firm’s first Visionary Awards, created to recognize individuals whose dedication to diversity manifested itself in concrete and meaningful ways, changing the corporate culture of firm.  He received many other awards during his work life in this and other work focus areas, but these were the awards of which he was most proud.

Jeff owned hundreds of pieces of Blenko glass, but was not a collector for financial gain; he truly had a love and appreciation of Blenko glass---especially anything designed by Wayne Husted, and he kept and displayed for pure enjoyment any Blenko glass that he purchased.  This became more important to him as the Blenko Glass company and museums experienced financial hardship or even closed.  He had the space to store, catalogue, and display—and he did. Jeff also owned prototypes of Wayne Husted’s Olana line, post Olana pieces, catalogues, posters, books, and many of Wayne’s original sketches.
Serendipity brought Wayne and Jeff together online.  They soon became trusted friends, speaking regularly on the phone as well as by email.  Wayne visited Jeff at his home last year, and after that visit, Wayne designed a triptych of stained glass windows based on the Olana line for the two-story front windows of Jeff’s house, which Jeff commissioned but never saw hanging.  He had planned to unveil them at a celebration with Wayne and members of the Blenko collectors’ community in attendance.
Instead of the celebration of the windows and their designer, family and friends from near and far, neighbors, and coworkers gathered at Jeff’s house to celebrate him, taking turns speaking about him amid the light and color of the glass that represented the spirit of Jeff.  Wayne contributed a beautiful eulogy that was much appreciated by all.


He will be missed and remembered.

-J.S. (Jeff’s sister)

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wish I had known Jeff.
His glass should be in a museum or in the Blenko Glass Museum upstairs at Blenko Glass.
Carolee

Anonymous said...

HILLARY
I SOLD GLASS TO JEFF IN 2006 AND HE WOULD OFTEN SPEAK OF CHANGES HE WANTED TO SEE IN YOUR BLOG AND WEBPAGE.
WAS HE NOT A BOARD MEMBER THEN?
A TRUE GENTLEMAN.
A FELLOW DEVOTE OF WAYNE HUSTED.
NOTHING BETTER THAN WAYNE EVER CROSSED THE DOOR OF BLENKO.
MOUNTAIN RITA

Anonymous said...

Hillary
your blenkoproject
photos do not appear
call your webmaster.
Georg

CPK.collectoroffineart said...

Proof yet again.
People of fine character
are attracted to Blenko Glass.

CPK.collectoroffineart said...

Excellent obit

Anonymous said...

Great guy, sorry to hear of his passing. Interesting that in 2012 he was "contributing his ideas, suggestions, and time to creating an accurate database of provenance files" just like the one the Blenko Museum created way back in 2007 - counterproductive to copy the idea though when to be successful it depends on a centralized database.
http://www.blenkomuseum.org/registry.htm
Really too bad his collection was broken up, sold off to junkers, and already ending up on ebay. So much for the provenance.

penny said...

Hilary I have question isn't the 2nd floor at Blenko Glass the floor with the older glass and photos of Blenko's history called Blenko Museum?
This is the one that is not virtual right?
The virtual one was made by the ebay seller?
Help me with this I stay confused.
Penny

Anonymous said...

Sad to hear of this passing.
Life is short.
Let us all stop throwing arrows and stones and rocks
and work toward promoting " buy local" " buy USA made"
West Virginia and American Glass.
If this glass is on ebay my guess is we'll also see it offered again at a higher price with provenance.
Elle

Anonymous said...

We didn't know Jeff but he did correct two items we were attempting to sale. Both were more valuable than we thought.
Nice guy, sad for your loss Hilary.
To anonymous re; blenko museum registry more than 14 months ago
Hilary suggested we go to your web pages for info.
Donna

Anonymous said...

Hillary
Quick thought - did you ask Jeff's family if you might have his catalogs and on line Blenko?
Copies of his photos etc would be very beneficial to the Blenko Project
giving Jeff credit of course?
If you have not - ask.
Della Sue

Anonymous said...

Link to Jeff's glass please.

Anonymous said...

Blenko Museum is awesome
we visited on saturday.
They should do more interactive events.

sj said...

Hillary,

I was one of the fortunate people to purchase a few pieces sold from his collection including a gorgeous Husted Olana pitcher. May his soul RIP!

sj said...

Hillary,

I was one of the fortunate people to purchase a few pieces sold from his collection including a gorgeous Husted Olana pitcher. May his soul RIP!

Frank J. Priznar said...

A year later, I am thinking about Jeff, a loyal friend since 1983, who allowed me to witness his evolving love affair with Blenko glass. He shared his love in 1987 by giving me a blue Blenko vase as a wedding gift. To him, this was the perfect, ultimate, you-can-not-get-ANY-better-than-this, kind of gift. I understood and was deeply grateful. Among many pleasant memories of him, I will always remember Jeff happy at the Blenko sanctuary he called home where I liked to think those artifacts were happy to be there too. Knowing his collection is being disbursed makes me think a bit of Jeff is being spread globally, and I believe that is a very good thing.

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