Freida Shaffer

FUNERAL SERVICE: Wednesday, September 3, 2025 10:30 AM at Crest Lawn Memorial Park

OBITUARY:

Freida Shaffer loved nothing more and was never happier than when she was gliding across the dance floor to “Stardust” with her husband of more than 60+ years, Max Shaffer. You would immediately notice her beauty and grace, her comfort in the spotlight, and her love of fashion. Beyond the dance floor, Freida loved an afternoon with friends – playing mahjong, bridge (a master level player), or canasta. She loved a two-week cruise, chaperoning a 7th grade field trip, a birthday lunch with the “Good Time Girls,” or even a trip to the movies with a box of her favorite Jordan Almonds. 

Freida grew up in Atlanta, living on the bottom floor of an apartment building on Durant Place. Upstairs lived her best friend, Betty Ruth, and downstairs, the woman who took care of her, Venita and her husband. She went to Smiley School and then when it was time for Girls High, her family moved to what she described as the country which was a house on Roxboro Road.

Frieda was capable, fierce, and strong. Freida had a big scar on her right knee from when her father taught her to ride a bicycle. He took her to the top of a nearby hill, told her to climb on and she did. After the bloody fall, Freida got right back up, climbed the hill again and again until she learned to ride. She learned to drive a truck at 10 – accompanying her father, Mack Frankel, to the farmers market each week to buy produce. He would walk the stalls and she would follow behind in the truck. She also worked in her father’s downtown grocery store, Western Market on Broad Street. For as long as she can remember, she knew how to run the register and make correct change.

 She met Max at a party in 1948 at the Standard Club celebrating the creation of state of Israel. Max noticed that she was the life of the party. She brought a group of friends home after the celebration, and her mother, Pearl, took an immediate liking to Max. Freida decided that day to marry him. And she did, in her parent’s living room, wearing in a chocolate brown fitted suit and platform suede heels. The newlyweds built their home, a redbrick two-bedroom house, right next door to her parents.

While Freida raised her three children, she also worked at the Apparel Mart in Downtown Atlanta selling ladies ready to wear clothing. And she was celebrated as the best of the best. She knew color and fabrics and what women would love. She worked long days and made “her own money.” She was also a lifetime member of Hadassah and an active member in Congregation Shearith Israel and Shaarei Shamayim.

Freida died at home on August 31. She is survived by her son Steven Shaffer and his wife Sue of Boca Raton, Florida; son Kenneth Shaffer of Atlanta; and daughter Janece Shaffer and her husband Bill Nigut of Atlanta. Her grandchildren include Sydney Shaffer (Arjin Raj), Mickey Shaffer, Bill Nigut III, Emma Nigut, and Rob Miller (Karen). Her great-grandchildren include Ella and Olivia Miller, Julien Roizen and Orion Shaffer-Raj.