Longtime Grady Mayor Wesley Shafer dies

GRADY - Wesley Shafer, Grady's longtime mayor, died Sunday night at the age of 81.

"Mayor Shafer was a dedicated and supportive leader in the Village of Grady, who was extremely knowledgeable in municipal government," the village said in a Tuesday afternoon news release. "As an integral and active part of our community, he will be sorely missed."

Services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday at Grady Baptist Church.

Shafer was born April 21, 1940 in Tucumcari, and grew up in the San Jon area. He worked for Farmers' Electric, and following his 1998 retirement he conducted farm and ranch surveys for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Shafer had spent 23 years as the village's mayor and another eight as a village councilor.

Mayoral duties immediately fall to Mayor Pro Tem Jimmy Schell. The council is tasked to select a replacement, who would serve the remainder of the term.

Shafer ran for his sixth term in March 2018, defeating Kodie Weese 29-6. At the time, Shafer told The News he'd like to have the job for four more years to see out some projects.

"As small as Grady is," Shafer said, "there's not a whole lot to do, but we're working with wind farms and different things."

The mayoral term was originally supposed to run through March of 2022, but was extended to run through 2023 by the Secretary of State's Office when Grady municipal elections were put onto the general election ballots for odd-numbered years.