In Memoriam

Birth: 1932 in Bradford, Pennsylvania, United States
Death: March of 1999
Family: Parents Michael Benjamin and Mabel; sister Michele Hungiville; married Edgar Merrow Raffensperger, Sept. 12, 1953; children: Andrew, Catharine, and Thomas
Education: BA, Pa. State U., 1953.
Memberships: Active N.Y. State Democratic Commmittee, Albany, 1984-86, 86-88.
Home: 139 Pine Tree Rd, Ithaca, NY

Positions Held:
Ithaca Town Supervisor 1989-1993
Ithaca Town Board Member 1975-1989
Chair Tompkins County Planning Board
Chair Tompkins County Democratic Committee
Chair Parks and Paths Committee
City – Town Joint Sewer Representative
Gadabout Board
Governor’s Tax Panel
League of Women Voters
NYS Democratic Committee
NYS Planning Federation Board of Directors
Southern Cayuga Lake Water Commission
Chair Committee on the new Town Hall

Shirley Raffensperger was instrumental in aiding the Town of Ithaca to acquire the former United States Post Office and convert it into the new Town Hall. When she was Town Supervisor the Town established a capital reserve fund for the purpose of acquiring a new Town Hall. Mrs. Raffensperger chaired a community committee that considered the advisability of developing the Post Office as a new Town Hall and the committee under her leadership educated various officials and the public on the merits of the adaptive reuse of the Post Office as a new Town Hall. Mrs. Raffensperger’s work in establishing a new home for the Town Hall is only one of the numerous contributions to the well being of the Town of Ithaca and its citizen made by her during her many years of service to the Town, not only as Supervisor for four years and later Chair of the Community Committee on the New Town Hall, but also as a Councilwoman for fourteen years, a member of the Southern Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Water Commission, and a City-Town Special Joint Sewer Representative.

On October 27, 2000, the main meeting room of the new Town Hall was named the Shirley A. Raffensperger Meeting Room during the grand opening of the new Town Hall, in honor of Mrs. Raffensperger, in honor of the role she played in obtaining the new Town Hall, and in honor of the dedicated service she provided in a variety of roles to the Town, its citizens and residents, for over twenty years. A picture of Mrs. Raffensperger and a plaque have been placed in the meeting room and the room will be identified as the "Shirley A. Raffensperger Meeting Room." The unveiling was done by Edgar Raffensperger and Michele Hungiville.

From the Town of Ithaca Web Site <http://www.town.ithaca.ny.us>

A biographical profile was published in: Who's Who of American Women, 19th edition

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