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Louise H. “Dede” Shafer, Camp Co-Founder and Director, Historian Louise Hoopes Shafer, known as “Dede”, died at Beaumont Retirement Home in Bryn Mawr, PA, on October 8, 2024. She was 93. Dede was the daughter of Wilmer W. Hoopes, Jr. and Mary Sayre Hoopes. Born in Philadelphia, she grew up in Rosemont, PA, summering each year in Montrose, PA. She attended Haverford Friends School, the Knox School, and graduated from Lower Merion H.S. She attended West Chester University and the Philadelphia School of Office Training. In 1953 she married George Carlton Shafer, Jr. at the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. George was a teacher and coach at The Episcopal Academy and co-owner/director of Camp Susquehannock for Boys on Tripp Lake in Brackney, PA, founded by his father in 1905. They lived on the Academy campus in Merion for several years until purchasing a home first in Bryn Mawr and then built a new home in Newtown Square where they lived for 46 years. In addition to the family business, Dede worked for ten years for The Friends of Independence National Historic Park during the Nation’s Bicentennial. In 1983, she helped run the 300th anniversary and reunion of the Hoopes Family in America. In 1986, Dede and George, started a “sister” camp known as Camp Susquehannock for Girls at Lake Choconut in near-by Friendsville, PA, and ran it successfully for 15 years. Both camps were then turned over to a group of camp alumni and parents who formed a not-for-profit organization and have carried it on in the spirit of the founders to this day. Besides her life-long love of tennis (still hitting the ball at 91!), Dede enjoyed creative writing, historical research and genealogy, singing, traveling and reading. She sang in school groups and church choirs, as well as the Savoy Opera Co., participating in several Gilbert & Sullivan productions, including “Ruddigore”, “Iolanthe”, “Trial by Jury” and “Sorcerer”. She also produced and directed many musicals on the Camp Susquehannock stage. Dede wrote and published A One Hundred Year History of Camp Susquehannock in honor of the 100th anniversary of Camp. She was the family archivist, always with her camera, documenting events, researching family history and capturing it for the benefit of future generations. Dede was a member of the Merion Cricket Club and The Montrose Club. She was also a member of the Junior League of Philadelphia, the Savoy Opera Company, a past board member of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania and the Welcome Society of Pennsylvania. She belonged to the Historical Society of PA, the Chester County Historical Society and the Susquehanna County Historical Society. Her beautiful smile, graciousness and can-do attitude will be sorely missed by many. Dede was predeceased by her loving husband of 61 years; her brother, Wilmer “Buzz” Hoopes, III, and younger sister, Elisabeth Gilbert. She is survived by her four children, G. Carlton Shafer, III, (Cindy) of Lancaster, PA; Catherine Cockerill (Jim) of Thornton, PA; Polly Dana (John) of Boulder, CO, and Elizabeth Shafer-Nagy (Rob) of Lawrenceville, NJ, and grandchildren, George Chapman Shafer, James Daniel Shafer, Jessica Sayre Cockerill, Amy Margaret Cockerill, Nathan Philip Dana, Henry Shafer Dana and Charlotte Elizabeth Nagy; also by her sister, Priscilla Andre (Dave) of Montrose, PA, in-laws Charles B. Saunders and Anne D. Shafer and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held at 1:00 pm on Saturday, November 9th at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. Burial will be in the family plot in Montrose, PA at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church Foundation, 625 Montgomery Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010; https://www.bmpc.org/giving/bmpc-foundation Camp Susquehannock, Inc., 2308 Tripp Lake Rd, Brackney, PA 18812 https://susquehannock.com/donate/ Planned Parenthood, PO Box 97166, Washington, DC 20077-7543 https://www.weareplannedparenthood.org/onlineactions/2U7UN1iNhESWUfDs4gDPNg2?sourceid=1000063&_gl=1*fts54e*_gcl_au*NDE3NTU1MTA3LjE3Mjg2NTY3NDQ.*_ga*MjA1NjkxNjA2OC4xNzI4NjU2NzQ1*_ga_ENXC8KHJL8*MTcyODY1Njc0NC4xLjEuMTcyODY1NzU4Ny4wLjAuNzczOTgyNjg0

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Louise H. "Dede" Shafer

August 26, 1931 - October 8, 2024