James Wetherill Shaffner

James Wetherill Shaffner grandson of Richard Wetherill, early day explorer of southwestern Anasazi ruins, was born in Tucumcari, New Mexico February 7th, 1947.  He was born James Wetherill Johnson but after the death of his father in 1952 and his mother's marriage to Everett E. Shaffner he assumed the Shaffner name.  He did not have the Johnson name legally changed to Shaffner until his early twenties.

After attending public school in Tucumcari, he graduated from high school in 1965.  He attended Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU) in Portales, New Mexico for
two semesters before being drafted into the US Army at Fort Bliss Texas and Fort Eustis,  Virginia.  While in the army he served a one year tour of duty in Viet Nam and was stationed at such places as, An Khe, Chu Lai, Danang and Hue-Phu Bai.  He served with the First Air Cavalry Division his entire tour and received the Vietnam Campaign Medal W/60 Device, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service medal, Good Conduct Medal.  After a year in Vietnam he spent a number of months at Fort Riley Kansas before being transferred to Europe.  He spent a short time in Germany before being permanently assigned to NATO headquarters in Mons, Belgium.  While stationed in Belgium he met and married his first wife, Christine Whitmarsh. Jim was discharged from the army in March of 1970 at Fort Hamilton New York and returned with his new wife to Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU).

Jim and Christine had 1 child, James R. Shaffner while he was a student at the university. Jim worked at the ENMU Facilities Management Department for 4 years as a student employee. Jim graduated from ENMU with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1974 and was employed as the Horticulturist for a Hydroponic greenhouse vegetable growing operation in Tucumcari, New Mexico and Fabens, Texas.  Jim and Christine adopted their second child Poppy Elizabeth while living in Fabens.  Jim's next job in 1978 was as Horticulturist for wholesale flower-producing greenhouse in Tome, New Mexico.

In 1981 Jim was employed by New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMT) a small science and engineering university in Socorro, New Mexico as Associate Director of Facilities Management and was promoted to Director in 1982 and held the position for 25 years.  Jim was also a adjunct faculty member for Eastern New Mexico University teaching Turf Grass Management.  He also taught Horticulture for the community college at NMT.

 
Jim's second wife Marie Garcia was a Teacher, Principal, Director of Instruction and Superintendent of Schools.  She retired in 2001 after 28 years of service to the Belen School District.  Marie and her son Alexander Likovic trace their family to one of the 12 founding families of Albuquerque prior to 1680. Her family has been in the Rio Grande valley 400 years and is one of the heirs to the Tome Spanish Land Grant.  Marie and Jim currently live near the grant and 30 miles South of Albuquerque.

The Sanchez branch of her family is documented to have been in New Mexico in 1600, near the time of the arrival of the Juan de Onate colony in 1598.  Madalena Sanchez de lnigo, eighth great-grandmother of Marie Garcia-Shaffner was married September 6, 1609 in Puebla de los Angeles, New Spain and was the mother of Fray Francisco Munoz, father of the Juana Lopez de Aragon children.  This family is considered to be one of the twelve founding families of Albuquerque.  Francisco Sanchez was one of the original twenty-six petitioners for the Tome Land Grant in 1739, the grandson of Juana Lopez and the fifth great-grand parent of Marie Garcia-Shaffner.  

• Shaffners in New Mexico

• Shaffners in Turkey

• Shaffners in Arches National Park, Utah              Arches National Park preserves over 2,000 natural sandstone arches, like the world-famous Delicate Arch, as well as many other unusual rock formations. In some areas, the forces of nature have exposed millions of years of geologic history.  The extraordinary features of the park create a landscape of contrasting colors, landforms and textures that is unlike any other in the world.

• Shaffners in Monument Valley, Arizona

• Shaffners on the Amazon River

• Shaffners in Cambodia

• Shaffners in Laos

• Shaffners in Thailand

• Shaffners in Machu Picchu Peru  Machu Picchu is a city located high in the Andes Mountains in modern Peru. It lies 43 miles northwest of Cuzco at the top of a ridge, hiding it from the Urabamba gorge below.  Most of the structures are built of granite blocks cut with bronze or stone tools, and smoothed with sand. The blocks fit together perfectly without mortar, although none of the blocks are the same size and have many faces; some have as many as 30 corners. The joints are so tight that even the thinnest of knife blades

• Shaffners in Playas, New Mexico-Terror Town.  When New Mexico Tech a state supported university   purchased the town of Playas, New Mexico, Jim was Director of Facilities at the university.  Jim and his team were selected to examine the facilities and set up the management for the small town of 259 homes which included a medical facility, bank, parks, churches and other infrastructure typically found in a small town.  The team included most of the management from the university facilities department.