Thomas P. Schafer, 49, football standout and coach

Thomas P. Schafer, 49, a company general manager and former football star who loved to make people laugh, died of cancer Saturday, Oct. 30, at home in Phoenixville.

Mr. Schafer graduated from Upper Merion High School, where he lettered in football, boxing, and lacrosse. In 1978, his senior year, he was starting center on Upper Merion's undefeated state championship team.

He earned a bachelor's degree from West Chester University, where he was also a football player, earning All East honors. He was a member of the West Chester University Athletic Hall of Fame.

In 1984, Mr. Schafer signed with the New England Patriots. He was cut before he had a chance to play and was then picked up by the Eagles and played in one preseason game. In 1985, he signed with the New York Jets and suffered a career-ending injury in preseason.

Though he was only briefly in the NFL, Mr. Schafer stayed active in football while pursuing a business career. He was an assistant coach for several area school teams, including Malvern Preparatory School and Perth Amboy, Phoenixville, and St. Pius X High Schools.

Since 2007, Mr. Schafer had been a partner and general manager for Mattiola Services in Skippack, where he was in charge of environmental business development.

Previously, he owned environmental remediation companies, removing asbestos and concrete from commercial buildings.

Mr. Schafer was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1986. A 10-hour operation to remove eight pounds of tumors was followed by four rounds of chemotherapy.

"I never felt I was going to die from it. I bounced back," he told Inquirer columnist Daniel Rubin in September.

The cancer returned in 2008. Though doctors were not hopeful, he battled the cancer aggressively.

Mr. Schafer "has always fought long odds with a potent mix of humor, profanity, and mule-headedness," Rubin wrote.

He told Rubin that he had long-range plans, including writing a screenplay about a wild road trip of his youth and regaining strength in his vocal cords so he could perfect his impersonations of Ray Romano, Jerry Lewis, and Tony Bennett.

"His number-one priority in life was to make people laugh," Mr. Schafer's wife, Karen Daly Schafer, said.

"Friends were always telling him he could be a great stand-up comic," she said. "He did the best impersonations. He would sing and use funny hats and props."

He and his wife, a respiratory therapist, met when they attended a medical convention in New Orleans. He was helping out at a friend's booth. They talked for hours in a Bourbon Street bar, she said, and after she returned home to Utah, "we fell in love on the phone." They married in 2003.

Mr. Schafer enjoyed travel, funk music, dancing, his Harley, weightlifting, and spending time with his three dogs.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his mother, Barbara Schafer; stepsons Jeff and Eric Ward; a brother; and three sisters.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, at Mother of Divine Providence Roman Catholic Parish, 333 Allendale Rd., King of Prussia. Friends may call from 9 a.m.

Donations may be made to the West Chester University Foundation for the Tom Schafer Memorial Scholarship, Box 541, West Chester, Pa. 19381.