In more than 30 years of military service, George E. Schafer rose through the medical officer ranks, becoming surgeon general of the Air Force.

Schafer had followed his father into the medical profession and graduated from medical school at the University of Cincinnati in 1946.

We found pictures of my dad with a stethoscope, listening to the back of his older brother laying down in a wagon, son Jeffery Schafer said.

His dream was to one day work alongside his father, but when the younger Schafer was in college, his father died. Schafer joined the Air Force in 1947 after completing a surgical residency.

He was in medical school during World War II and always wanted to serve his country. When (his father) died, that dream was over, so he found another way to practice, Jeffery Schafer said.

Schafer died Jan. 23 at the age of 92.

Schafer had married his high school sweetheart, Marjorie, in 1943, a union that lasted 71 years until she died last year.

While stationed at Randolph AFB, Schafer attended the School of Aviation Medicine, which specializes in the treatment and prevention of certain conditions to which aircrews are susceptible.

After training, Schafer was assigned as a flight surgeon to the 4th Fighter Group, making him the first full-time surgeon in a jet aircraft group. Through the years, Schafer was stationed across the globe, including Germany and Vietnam.

In 1962, he returned to San Antonio and served as assistant deputy chief in research and development of staff, then as deputy chief of staff for operations, in the Headquarters Aerospace Medical Division at Brooks AFB.

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