One of two individuals who drowned along Lake Michigan on Saturday has been identified as a former college football standout.
The family of 26-year-old Jalen Shaffer has confirmed that he was one of the two men who died on the western coast of Michigan’s lower peninsula, saying he was trying to save the life off of a former teammate.
‘My son Jalen Shaffer is in the presence of Jesus,’ Grand Rapids, Michigan’s Joel Allen Shaffer wrote on Facebook. ‘Yesterday, he was in a drowning accident in Holland, MI, attempting to save his football brother, with whom he played for 4 years at Wheaton.’
The other individual is a 24-year-old Illinois man who has not been identified yet.
The Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office responded to a ‘water emergency’ around 1pm on Saturday in Port Sheldon Township, where two men were reported to be struggling in the waters of Pigeon Lake, which connects Lake Michigan to a nearby river. They were pulled out of the water by emergency responders who performed life-saving measures before pronouncing them both dead.
The exact circumstances of their deaths have not been revealed. There have been rip-tide warnings along Lake Michigan in recent days, but it’s unclear if that was impacting the Pigeon Laker waters as well.
Jalen Shaffer is pictured with his father, Joel, during his time as a linebacker at Wheaton
Shaffer was reportedly trying to save a former college teammate along Lake Michigan
The younger Shaffer is remembered for his work with children, both in Michigan and abroad.
‘Thank you so much for the prayers from everyone who has been part of his life and our lives all these years,’ Shaffer’s father wrote on Facebook. ‘He was on staff at Bridge Street Ministries, mentoring and discipling urban middle school students, and made an eternal impact on the lives of his students and everyone he became friends with.
‘He was truly one of the most godly men I’ve known in my life,’ Joel continued. ‘I saw him daily modeling the fruits of the Spirit and was so proud of him, especially when I saw him pour his life into the next generation of disadvantaged yet high-potential youth in our city. Pray for us, but also pray for his students at Bridge St. Ministries. They loved him deeply.’
Ryan Waalkes, the executive director at Bridge Street Ministries, also reacted to the tragedy online.
‘It is with deep sadness that I am writing about the tragic death of one of our teammates over the weekend,’ Waalkes wrote on Facebook. ‘Jalen Shaffer was one of the most humble, selfless, and Christ-like young men that I have ever met. On Saturday afternoon, Jalen died while trying to save a friend in Lake Michigan. Tragically, neither of them survived. Jalen died the way that he lived… giving his life trying to help someone else.’
Both Waalkes and Joel shared a bible passage, John 15:13: ‘Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.’
Shaffer was a distinguished student at Wheaton College, where he studied business
Standing 6ft 2in and 213 pounds, Shaffer was named second-team all-conference as a senior in 2022, while also earning academic honors as a business/economics major
Shaffer was a standout running back at NorthPointe Christian High before moving over to linebacker at Division III Wheaton College in Michigan.
Standing 6ft 2in and 213 pounds, Shaffer was named second-team all-conference as a senior in 2022, while also earning academic honors as a business/economics major. That season he recorded 10 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble against Illinois Wesleyan before returning an interception 53 yards against Elmhurst.
He may have been even better on special teams a year earlier by blocking an unthinkable six punts for the Thunder.
Wheaton would go 10-2 and 8-3 over Shaffer’s final two seasons.
A GoFundMe has been launched to help his family cover funeral expenses and other related costs.
‘We ask that you cover them first in prayer, and if you are able to, give financially to help alleviate these costs,’ read the online post.
As of Monday afternoon, the fund had raised $31,620, easily surpassing the fund’s $20,000 goal.
