Shepard Family Update, Feb 29

Dear Family members and friends,

Happy Leap Day from Northern California! Winter is still with us in our part of the world, but there are growing signs every day that spring is not far away.

Fascinating Family Fact: Did you know? "William" had been a common name in our family, going back at least 170 years, perhaps even farther. It has been given to at least one member of our family in every generation (except one) going back as far as we can trace the Shepard name (1835). Here is a list of the Williams:

• William Shepard (1835-1862) - died in the civil war
• William Elmer Shepard (1862-1915) - civil war baby
• William Shepard (1888-1976) - "Grandad"
• Eugene William Shepard (1921-2003)
• (skip a generation)
• Nathan William Shepard (b.1977)

Who will be next to name one of their children William?

Family Faces. I am including two family pictures. The first is one of the oldest family pictures I have. It shows Elmer and Pauline Shepard and their grandmother Elvira Owens Shepard (1864-1931) wife of William Elmer Shepard.

I have no date for this picture, but Elmer, the boy in the picture, was born in 1918 and looks to be - what do you think? - maybe 2 years old? Elvira Owens Shepard, the woman in the picture, was "Grandad's" mother, whose family was from Alton, Illinois, where Grandad was born, which is just across the Mississippi River from Saint Louis, Mo.

The other is a picture taken last summer at our home in Dorrington California, of four cousins: Nathan William Shepard (of San Francisco), Patrick Shepard (of Bothell, Washington), and Steven and Linda Shepard (of Anacortes).

These 4 cousins represent the 20 great-grandchildren of Will and Bura Shepard, who range in age from 8 years old (Kaylan Shepard) to 42 (Eric Russell). Below is the complete list, with birth years and where they live now. Unfortunately, one from this list, Karl Wilk, died back in 1997. This is a very impressive generation of descendants of Will and Bura Shepard. (Please send me any corrections to this list.)

Bill and Pauline (Shepard) Russell's grandchildren:

• Eric Russell, 1965 (Reno, Nev?)
• Shannon Wilk, 1973 (Atchison, Kan.)

Beryl and Elmer Shepard's grandchildren:

• Havilah Colgain, 1982 (Dixon, Ca?)
• Nathan Shepard, 1996 (Oklahoma City)
• Kaylan Shepard, 1999 (Oklahoma City)

Maida and Gene Shepard's grandchildren:

• Kerri Aquiningoc, 1968 (Weatherford, Tx)
• Jason Shepard, 1972 (Ft Worth,Tx)
• Kelly Sauvage, 1973 (Weatherford, Tx)
• Nathan Shepard, 1977 (San Francisco)
• Christopher Shepard, 1984 (Bothell, Wa)
• Rachel Shepard, 1987 (Bothell, Wa)
• Patrick Shepard, 1990 (Bothell, Wa)
• Steven Paul Shepard, 1990 (Anacortes)
• Linda Shepard, 1993 (Anacortes)

Terry and Thelma (Shepard) Boyd's grandchildren:

• Courtney Boyd, 1990 (Santee, Ca)
• Brandyn Boyd, 1994 (Santee, Ca)
• Kori Lynn Boyd, 1997 (Santee, Ca)
• Jeremy Ortiz, 1980 (El Cajon, Ca)
• Amanda Ortiz, 1983 (Gallup, N.Mex.)
• Scott Ortiz, 1985 (El Cajon, Ca)

Family News: Happy Birthday to Kerri (Shepard) Aquiningoc, this coming Monday, March 3! (This is a big one for her, that ends in "0"!) Congratulations and best wishes!

Remember: Shepard Family Reunion, Saturday, July 19, 2008, Anacortes, Washington. We are pleased that many of you have already told us you will be there and are making your plans to attend. Please let us know if you can make it so that we can plan for your presence. We want to include every family member and friend!
--
Steve

[P.S.... If you know of other family members or friends who would like to receive these emails, please ask them to send me an email at shepard@sierrawebworks.com -- or give me their email addresses -- and I will include them on the email list. If you have their physical address, please send that to me as well and I will make sure they receive an invitation to the reunion by US Mail. Also, please let me know if you would rather I use a different email address for you, or if you would prefer NOT to receive these messages.]

Shepard Family Update, Feb 22

Dear Family members and friends, 


Hello from Anacortes, Washington, where Cindy and I are visiting with Maida and the rest of the family in this area. All the Shepards up here are excited about hosting the family reunion this summer on Saturday, July 19, and look forward to welcoming all of you who will be coming from places far or near. Be sure and let us know if you will be attending, and when you will be arriving. If you are coming by air, help with transportation from the SeaTac airport may be possible. 


Fascinating Family Fact: Speaking of Anacortes... Did you know? Anacortes is a scenic Puget Sound resort community, a popular ferry stop on the way to the San Juan Islands, and an hour and a half drive north of Seattle. 


The first of our Shepard family to live in these parts were Eugene and Maida Shepard, who sold their home in San Diego and moved here 30 years ago this spring, after Eugene retired from Civil service work. At first it was just the two of them and their youngest son Russell, who was still in High School. Their other 4 children were either married and on their own, or busy with other pursuits. Part of the reason for their move to the North West was to help with a small Church of Christ congregation in Anacortes whose minister was a friend from San Diego.

Over the last 30 years most of Maida and Gene's clan has settled in and around Anacortes, including Barbara in Anacortes (who lives with Maida), Russell and his wife Pam and their kids in Anacortes, Gary and his wife Cindy in nearby Oak Harbor, Wa, and Darrell and his wife Mary and their kids in Bothell, Wa. (a suburb of Seattle). Cindy and I are holdouts who still live in California, as does our son Nathan. Washington is too beautiful a place to visit to move here! ;-)

Family Faces. I am including two family pictures. The first is an old one of 20-year-old Maida Gower and 24-year-old Eugene Shepard, newlyweds on their honeymoon in Anaheim, Ca. Gene was in the Navy at the time, stationed at Los Alamitos Naval Air Station. There's was a small wartime wedding in San Diego at the El Cajon Blvd Church of Christ May 24, 1945. They enjoyed almost 60 years of marriage before Eugene died in the summer of 2003.

The other is a picture of the 1994 Anacortes family reunion. (You can click on the picture for a larger view.) In the picture are Bill and Pauline Russell, Art and Havilah Colgain (Joan's daughter), Maida and Eugene Shepard, their children Gary, Steve, Darrell, Barbara, and Russell, several of their grandchildren (Kerri, Kelly, Nathan, Chris, Rachel, Patrick, Linda and Steven Paul), Jerry Clark on the far left, and several members of Maida's Gower family. (We want all of you in the photo at this year's family reunion!)

This photo reminds us that we have lost several family members since this picture was taken. Not just Bill and Pauline and Eugene, who are in this picture, but others as well. We remember them all fondly.

Happy Birthday to Darrell Shepard this coming Wednesday, February 27!

- - -

Steve

Shepard Family Update, Feb 15, 2008

Dear Family members,

Hello everyone from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico where Cindy and I are basking in 85 degree weather! A little warmth, after all the snow we have been having in Northern California, is a welcome respite. This is warm winter weather even by San Diego standards.

Fascinating Family Fact: Speaking of San Diego... Did you know? Some Shepard family members have made San Diego their home since Will and Bura Shepard moved there with their 4 children in 1940 from Two Buttes, Colorado, in that state's southeast corner. Before that the Shepard family had been in the panhandle of Oklahoma (Beaver County), and before that the St Louis area, and before that Indiana, and before that Ohio. Most of our Shepard family members in recent years have moved away from San Diego, but that area has been home to various family members continuously for almost 70 years now, longer than anywhere else.

Family Faces. I am sending two family pictures. The first is an old one dated Feb, 1945 and is a picture of Will and Bura Shepard's family, barely 5 years after the family first moved to San Diego. From left to right the adults are Pauline Russell, Elmer Shepard, Bura and Will Shepard. The children are Rex and Bev Russell and Thelma Shepard. They are in front of what looks like the Russell home on Ohio St in the North Park community of San Diego, the first home owned by any of our family in that city. Not in this picture are Eugene Shepard and Bill Russell (Pauline's husband) the only other members of our Shepard family in Feb, 1945.

The other is a recent picture of Dane and Cindy Shepard and their children Kaylan and Nathan of Oklahoma City.

Family News and Updates. Belated Birthday wishes to Cindy Shepard (Gary's Cindy) earlier this month on February 2! And Happy Birthday to Thelma's husband Terry Boyd next Wednesday, Feb 20, in Gallup, New Mexico!

I received an email recently from Shannon Wilk (Pauline Shepard Russell's granddaughter), who says...

I have a daughter now, she is 2 1/2 and will be 3 in June. Her name is Emma Beverly Jean Wilk. I had always wanted to name my child after my mom, and well the good Lord gave me the most wonderful gift ever. She is my angel baby.

May of '05 I moved to Mass., where dad and Frank were living, (Frank's daughter lives there) and had Emma that June. I was really home sick so they decided to go back to Kansas with me. So in August of '05, Emma was only 2 months old, we packed everything up and headed back here.

Kim told me about the reunion, and it sounds wonderful. I would love to go. Too many years have gone by without my family, and its about time I stay in touch with everyone. Now that my own family is all gone, though I do have Frank, and bless him, he has been there for me and Emma this whole time.

Remember: Shepard Family Reunion, Saturday, July 19, 2008, Anacortes, Washington.

Steve

Shepard Family Update, February 8

Dear Family members,

Hello from Lubbock, Texas, where Cindy and I are celebrating our 40th class reunion at Lubbock Christian University! We are enjoying the Texas hospitality of Jerry Clark and his wife Cathrina (see picture) and look forward to some time with long-time family friend Jane Brock and her husband Joe. We are also seeing school mates of years past -- all of whom, for some strange reason, have aged tremendously! ;-)

Fascinating Family Fact: Speaking of old... Did you know? Our oldest known Shepard ancestor, William Shepard (1835-1862), had a son, William Elmer Shepard (1862-1915), who was born in Wabash, Indiana during the Civil war, a few months before his father died. Because of his father's untimely death, the two of them probably never met.

William Elmer Shepard left home as a young man -- an old family tradition says he was estranged from his Indiana family for the rest of his life because of animosity with his step father. He settled in the St Louis area (Alton, Illinois) and married Elvira Owens. They had two children, a daughter, Sadie Shepard, and a son, William Shepard (1888-1976), who they named after his father AND grandfather. As a young man THIS William Shepard moved to the panhandle of Oklahoma (the land of opportunity at that time), married Bura Davis in 1915, and was the father of Pauline, Elmer, Eugene and Thelma. He was also a grandfather fondly remembered by a number of us (see picture).

I have no information on any of our Shepard ancestors before the William Shepard who was born in 1835 in Ohio. Do any of you have the interest and know-how to research our family history? We need one or more people who would be willing to give it some time and energy, in particular to discover our Shepard ancestors before 1835. And this is just the Shepard line. There is a whole other family tree belonging to Bura Davis (Shepard), that all us descendants can call ours.

Family Faces. I am including two family pictures. The first one shows Bura and William Shepard in 1975 (the year before he died), and includes 8 of their 10 grandchildren at the time. On the back row are grandchildren Barbara Shepard, Darrell Shepard, Joan Shepard and Gary Shepard; on the front row are grandchildren Darren Boyd, Dane Shepard and Kim Boyd; grandchild Russell Shepard is down in front. The picture also includes Gary's wife (at the time) Jackie, and their 3 children, Kelly, Kerri and Jason (Bura and William's great-grandchildren).

1975 was an eventful year for the Shepard family. This picture was taken at Gary and Jackie's home in Mira Mesa on the occasion of Maida and Eugene's 30th wedding anniversary. The following month William and Bura celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Two months before this picture was taken Rex and Margie Russell were married in a small family ceremony near Lake Jennings. Thanksgiving 1975 was a snowy event at Bill and Pauline Russell's cabin in Idylwild, Ca, remembered by many of us who were there. All of this came on the heels of the unfortunate deaths of Beverly Russell and Maida Shepard's father, Leroy Gower, within days of each other in December, 1974.

The other picture is Thanksgiving dinner 2007 and shows Cindy and me on the left, our son Nathan William Shepard on the right, with Jerry and Cathrina Clark next to Nathan. Next to me is Amanda (Clark) Farrell (Jerry's daughter) and her husband Chris, both Texans who now live in Hawthorne, New Jersey.

Family News. I received word this past week from Dane Shepard in Oklahoma City who says that his dad Elmer "has moved up near us into assisted living. His phone # is 405-376-0160 and his mailing address is ours: 8211 Shadow Lake Drive, Blanchard, OK 73010. We appreciate the family e-mail. Dad enjoys hearing about the family." (Elmer is the oldest living member of our Shepard family and will be 90 years old in May.)

As a follow up to my email a few weeks ago about family members who served in the military in wartime, Dane also writes, "My mother, Beryl (Swinney), was an ensign in the Navy Nurse Corp in WWII, stationed at Balboa Park, San Diego, from 1944-1945." ...Thanks so much, Dane, for sharing this information.

Remember: You are invited! Shepard Family Reunion, Saturday, July 19, 2008, Anacortes, Washington. Come for the day or the whole weekend! Find out where Anacortes, Washington is.
- - -
Steve Shepard

Shepard Family Update, Feb 1

February 1, 2008

Dear Family members,

Hello from the snowy mountains of Northern California, on the Eve of Ground Hog day, which celebrates the mid-point of winter. I can see my shadow at the moment; we shall see about tomorrow.

Remember: Shepard Family Reunion, Saturday, July 19, 2008, Anacortes, Washington. You are invited! Barbara tells me that she and Maida are in the process of sending out an updated notice about the events by US Mail to all those for whom they have physical addresses. Do they have yours? If not send it to me, or to them, and we will make sure you receive one.

After my last message regarding Shepard family members who served in wartime, I received word from Thelma (Shepard) Boyd that her husband Terry was in the Navy back in the mid-50s and that Rex Russell was also in the service about the same time, although -- thankfully -- during peacetime.

Fascinating Family Fact: Did you know? Our oldest known Shepard ancestor, William Shepard, was born in Ohio in 1835, but as a young man his family moved to Wabash, Indiana. There he entered the Union Army and died on July 21, 1862, at 27 years old, from wounds suffered in the Civil War. His burial site can be visited in the beautiful Civil War section of Oak Hill Cemetery in Evansville, Indiana.

I had a very interesting visit to his grave back in 1992 and found it easy to locate. I also visited his hometown of Wabash, Indiana and read that after being wounded in the war (by a cannon blast according to an old family story) he was sent to the hospital in Evansville where he contracted Typhoid fever which is what eventually took his life.

Family Faces. I am sending you two pictures. One is a picture of the grave of Civil War casualty William Shepard (1835-1862), our oldest known Shepard ancestor. His name is almost worn off the headstone (in front, on the right), which is now 146 years old.

The other picture is of Jeff and Kim (Boyd) Clark and two of Kim's 3 grandchildren, Ciara and Ashlyn, children of Jeremy and Desiree Ortiz, who live outside San Diego in El Cajon. Kim and her husband Jeff Clark live in Blue Springs, Missouri. Kim says she misses San Diego and gets back there quite often to visit her kids and grandkids.

I have been able to add a couple more family members to this email list. Our online circle now includes Mary and Rachel Shepard (Bothell, Washington) and Shannon Wilk (Atchison, Kansas). The list already includes Maida, Barbara, Gary, Pam, Linda, Steven Paul, Steven Dale, Nathan, Cindy1, Cindy2, Dane and Cindy3, Joan, Jeremy and Desiree, Thelma, Patrick, Darrell, Mary, Rachel, Shannon, Kim, Darren and Vicki, Jerry, Jane, Amanda F, and Kelly. Anybody else you'd like to add?
--
Steve