McMinnville resident and Gary, Ind., native Burl Robert Schafer, 73, was born May 7, 1942 and died Jan. 19 at Cookeville Regional Medical Center in Cookeville following an extended illness. A retired driver for Med-Ride, a United States Army veteran, member of Martin City Masonic Lodge 551 in Martin, member of the American Legion Post 173, and member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, he was the son of the late Robert and Melba Ross Schafer. He was married Oct. 30, 2006 to Mary Wilson Schafer of McMinnville.