John Shafer

back to Hall of Fame Inductees: Graduates/Students

John Shafer

  • 1990 graduate of Weston-McEwen HS

  • 3 sport letterman

    • football, basketball and tennis

  • attended Eastern Oregon College to be on the Alpine Ski Team

    • spent two years on the team

  • after Eastern Oregon, he transferred to Boise State University

  • After college, he started coaching tennis at Weston-McEwen High school for 8 years

    • had several district championships while coaching there

    • had the rare opportunity to coach alongside his mother, Dale Shafer

    • he eventually took over the program when his mom & Karen Albert decided to retire

  • Earned a degree in Criminal Justice

  • had a long career with the Umatilla County Sheriff's Office where he rose to the rank of Sergeant

  • he served on numerous boards and committees in this position

  • he is a graduate of the Oregon State Sheriff's Association's Command College, Oregon Executive Development Institute and the Department of Public Safety Standards Training's Supervisor School

  • as the agency's first aid/CPR instructor, he wrote multiple grants that allowed the Sheriff's Office to have Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in each of the patrol vehicles including Search and Rescue

  • During his career with the UCSO, he volunteered his time to many organizations

    • 4-H leader for 9 years

    • served on the Board of Directors for East Umatilla County Health District for 10 years

    • was on the Athena City Council for 10 years, serving six of those years as the Mayor

    • in his role as Mayor, he was instrumental in bringing the Bank of Eastern Oregon to Athena when US Bank decided to leave town

      • he is very proud to carry the debit card with the TigerScot logo on the front of the card, he is quick to point out that every time he uses that card the district gets 5 cents

  • In 2018, he was elected as the newest Umatilla County Commissioner

  • he is the current Board Chair and serves on many different committees at the state level with he Association of Oregon Counties

  • he is also a Vice-Chair of the Public Safety Committee at the National Association of Counties

He is very passionate about his roots at Weston-McEwen, he is an excellent addition to the hall of fame

Photo John Shafer