According to director Frank McDonald, Schaefer was almost totally deaf; McDonald said, "The only things he heard were what you didn't want him to hear."
President of Gene Autry Productions.
The older brother of sound and visual effects worker, Gordon C. Schaefer. Both worked on several of the same movies, throughout their careers. The brothers are survived by a half-sister, still alive in 2009, who is living in Thornton, Colorado.