Zoe R. Fisher-Schaffer, 87, of Urbana died at 1:40 p.m., Monday, April 30, 2012.

Funeral services will be held 7 p.m., Friday, May 4, 2012 at Renner-Wikoff Chapel 1900 S. Philo Rd. Urbana. Burial is private. A visitation will be held an hour prior to the service at the funeral home.

Zoe Fisher-Schaffer was born September 14, 1924 in Chester, PA to John and Mildred Fisher. She was married to Peter Schaffer for 38 years.

She is survived by her son, Eric L. (JoEllen Francis) Schaffer of Monticello; and cousins Virginia Obester of MD and David Norman of ID. Her parents preceded her in death.

Ms. Fisher graduated from Manheim High School. She then graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and was the first woman to major in the French horn. She studied under James Chambers, Mason Jones and Marcel Tabuteau and received her Artist Diploma in 1947. As a student, she played with the Philadelphia Opera Company (1944-47), along side Anton Horner and also played with the Philadelphia Orchestra (1945-46) and various other musical groups in the Philadelphia area, including "Spike Jones" comedy jazz group and the "Elliot Lawrence" dance band- a big band group that played coast to coast.

Zoe began her professional music career as a member of the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra (1947-48). She was also a member of the Kansas City Philharmonic (1949-54), the Denver Symphony Orchestra (1954-68), and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (1976-84). She free-lanced for the San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Civic Light Opera, Lexington Philharmonic, Central City Opera, Colorado Springs Symphony, Philadelphia and New York ballet, theater, radio, and opera, and around the Denver area. She was a founding member of the Denver Woodwinds and the "New Art Woodwind Quintet", San Francisco. Zoe served on the facility of the Colorado College and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

In addition to her music she was an award winning painter; her paintings are included in private and museum collections throughout the world. She studied art at Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia with Martin Jackson. Zoe studied painting with her mother, who in turn studied with her father. While in Denver she became very active in painting, entering many competitive shows and continued painting most vigorously in New Zealand.

Zoe belonged to a number of societies, including the Mill Valley Art Association, New Zealand Watercolor Society, the Kentucky Guild of Artists, and the Kentucky Artists and Craftsmen.

Ms. Fisher-Schaffer served as a WAAC during WWII at Fort Oglethorpe, GA and played the French horn in the military band.

Memorials to Curtis Institute of Music may be sent to attn of:Ann O'Donnell, 1726 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103. Please specify in your gift to the memory of Zoe Fisher-Schaffer. Memorials may be alternatively sent to the Champaign County Humane Society. Condolences may be offered at www.renner-wikoffchapel.com.