Fourth-generation Cincinnatian Herbert Shaffer was a stockbroker and a real estate investor who once owned homes in France and Guatemala.

        Known for his generosity and friendliness, Mr. Shaffer was a great lover of life and had friends all over the world, family and friends said.

        Mr. Shaffer died of cancer Tuesday at his home in Cincinnati. He was 76.

        “He embraced life with both arms,” said Bill Taylor, a close friend and business partner. “He was generous and kind to all people — he put a number of people through school.”

        The son of Dorothy Guckenberger and Herbert Shaffer. Mr. Shaffer attended Cincinnati Country Day School and Phillips Academy (Andover) in Massachusetts, and graduated from Yale University.

        Mr. Shaffer's first job was with the National City Bank of New York's branch in Yokohama, Japan, where he stayed about three years. He later returned to Cincinnati and became a broker for Harrison and Co.

        After retiring from the brokerage business, Mr. Shaffer invested in radio stations in Vail, Colo., and apartment buildings in Over-the-Rhine and on Liberty Hill in Cincinnati. He was a member of the Cincinnati Country Club, Yale Club, Queen City Club and Christ Church Cathedral.

        In Paris, Mr. Shaffer was a member of the American Cathedral, Friends of Vieilles Maisons Francaises and the English-Speaking Union. In October, he served as Ohio's representative at the dedication of the American Grove in the Versailles gardens in France.

        Mr. Shaffer's son, Gregory, who lives in Madison, Wis., said his father had a broad network of friends of all ages.

        “He would become a mentor for visiting foreign students,” Gregory Shaffer said. “He always invited students over for Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

        Mr. Shaffer loved to travel and had friends in nearly every country, said Tom Avril, a friend since high school.

        “He was a citizen of the world,” Mr. Avril said.

        Mr. Shaffer spent his last eight days in his apartment surrounded by family and friends, said Mr. Shaffer's other son, Geoffrey, of Boulder, Colo.

        Mr. Shaffer is survived by his two sons and a daughter, Pamela Shaffer of New York City; and three grandchildren.

        A memorial Mass will be held at 11 a.m. today at Christ Church Cathedral, 318 E. Fourth St., downtown.

        Memorials: The American Cathedral in Paris, 23 ave George V, 75008 Paris; Friends of the Ixchel Museum, P.O. Box 8055, Radnor, PA 19807; Hospice of Cincinnati, 4310 Cooper Road, Cincinnati, OH 45242; and Cincinnati Parks Foundation (for Eden Park), 950 Eden Park Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45202.

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