The past three years have been a blur to Vickie Shaffer, and it’s only recently that she’s felt closer to normal. ?She will never, however, be the same.

On July 18, 2005, Shaffer’s world changed forever when her husband of 17 years, John, and oldest son, Roger Jones, were killed in an airplane crash as they left the Aurora airport on a business trip.

She and youngest son Mike Jones were left to run the family business, North American Marine Industries Inc., a Lampe-based manufacturer of boat docks and lifts.

“All I wanted to do is crawl into a hole,” Shaffer says. “I didn’t want to go on.”

But the responsibility of a company and its employees gave her a purpose.

“I always tried to instill a positive attitute, evenwhen the going was tough,” she says.

Before the accident, Shaffer had been secretary and treasurer and took care of the computer system. Now she was CEO, working 10- to 14-hour days.

Shaffer doesn’t know how she managed to move forward, but perseverance isn’t new to her.

After finishing high school through night classes, getting married, having two children, divorcing and remarrying, Shaffer graduated at age 45 from Missouri State University with a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems.

It took five years of going to school part-time and working full-time to finish.

Never having experienced a high school graduation ceremony, Shaffer reveled in achieving a college degree.

“It’s one of my proudest accomplishments,” she says.

Keeping the family business afloat despite the loss of her husband, who was the president, and her son, who was the vice president of operations, is another.