Shepard Family Update - March 28, 2008

Dear Family members and friends,

Hello from San Diego, along with nephew Patrick Shepard (of Bothell, Washington) who is enjoying a well deserved vacation in Southern California after having his nose to the grindstone of High School and after-school employment. Pat is here visiting his father Darrell's home town and seeing the sights. (I had forgotten how beautiful San Diego can be in spring time!)

Fascinating Family Fact: Did you know? I mentioned a few weeks ago that "William" was a very common name in our family, and has been given to at least one family member in William Shepard's lineage since at least 1835. Since I shared that with you, I have discovered that Gram (Bura Davis Shepard) had a grandmother named Margaret Francis Williams. Her Williams lineage can be traced back to -- you ready for this? -- William Williams, born 1745 in Fairfax, Virginia. (No word yet on whether his middle name was Bill!)

Family Faces. I am including two family pictures. The first is a 1974 picture of Beryl and Elmer Shepard and their children Joan and Dane. After both of them served in WWII, Elmer and Beryl married in 1946 and raised their children in the San Diego area, near El Cajon. They built a beautiful home on Osage Trail in Winterhaven, a place of numerous family gatherings where board games were played and home made ice cream was cranked by hand. For many years Gram and Grandad lived right next door in a rented house. (Did Gram and Grandad EVER own their own home?)

It must have been in the late 1970s that Elmer retired from his work on North Island, and they moved to Beryl's hometown of Henderson, Texas. Beryl died nearly 15 years ago, and Elmer now lives in Oklahoma near his son Dane and his family. This picture was taken around the time of Joan's 20th birthday, about the time she was a student at Lubbock Christian University.

The other is a picture of Shannon Wilk and her daughter Emma Beverly Jean Wilk, who will be 3 in June. Emma is named after her grandmother Beverly Jean Russell who died in 1974. Shannon and Emma now live in Atchison, Kansas near Frank Bockach, who was her father Phil's partner for 28 years before Phil died last fall.

Thanks to Kim Clark for this picture, which was taken recently when Kim and husband Jeff visited Shannon and Emma for the first time in many years. Shannon and Emma look forward to coming to the family reunion this summer and getting reconnected with the family.

Behind every picture there is a story - many stories in fact - and these that I have just shared are only a few that come to my mind when viewing these two pictures. If I don't have all my facts exactly right, please let me know.

Happy Birthday this coming Monday to Joan (Shepard) Colgain of Dixon, California. I received word from Joan recently:

Hello, Steve! I enjoy your family emails immensely and appreciate the considerable amount of time you must spend collecting information. Recently, I've been preoccupied planning a trip to Oklahoma and Texas. I'll be helping Dane clean out Dad's house, getting it ready to sell. I'll also visit Dad and family. Thelma and Kim are flying in, too! Havilah [and husband Jason Reynolds] is in transition and does not have home email right now. Havilah was born in East Texas. We lived there for about ten years before moving back to California. This will be my first visit to Dane's new home. I attended Lubbock Christian for a year in the '70s and remember Jerry [Clark]. Small world!

Happy Birthday next Thursday to our son Nathan Shepard in San Francisco. Nate is a Computer Analyst for Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco where he has lived for about 5 years. He enjoys traveling (he'll leave for Hong Kong next week!), snow skiing, working out, his cat Socket, online gaming, and life in the big city. He enjoys family too and is making plans to be at the family reunion this July.

Remember: Shepard Family Reunion, Saturday, July 19, 2008, Anacortes, Washington. We hope YOU will be there to catch up with other family members!

Steve

Shepard Family Update, March 21, 2008

Dear Family members and friends,

Hello from San Diego on this "Good" Friday, a day of a full moon, and ironically (or not) the first day of spring! Happy birthday this coming Easter Sunday to Gary Shepard! Bit of Trivia: this is the only time in his entire life that Gary's birthday will fall on Easter Sunday. (Look it up. The last time was 1913 -- Gary is not THAT old! -- and the next time will be 2160.)



Fascinating Family Fact: Did you know? One branch of our family has not been heard from for several years. The whereabouts of Rex Russell and Eric Russell, son and grandson of Pauline (Shepard) Russell, are unknown. Last I heard they were living in the Reno, Nevada area. Would anyone be willing to try and locate them? It would be great to be back in touch with them and invite them to the family reunion. Kim (Boyd) Clark told me that she visited Rex a few years ago, but has since lost touch with him.



Family Faces. I am including two family pictures. The first one was taken at the wedding of Rex and Margie Russell in the San Diego area March 3, 1975. Also in the picture are me and Cindy. The back of the picture says that it was taken near Lake Jennings in Lakeside. As I recall the wedding was at the Mobile Home Park where Rex and Margie lived, and was a very special event attended by quite a few family members.

The other is a picture of Gary and Cindy Shepard, taken a few weeks ago at an early celebration of Gary's Birthday. On the birthday cake you can also see candles in honor of other birthdays in February and March: Gary's wife Cindy, Darrell, Russ and Steven Paul. The picture was taken at Maida's house in Anacortes.

Gary and his wife Cindy live in Oak Harbor, Washington, a short drive from Anacortes. Five years ago when Gary retired from work with the County of San Diego, they moved from Ramona to Washington State to join the rest of the clan there. Gary enjoys the retired life in the Northwest, including walks with his dog-buddy Dexter, regular visits with Mom in Anacortes, church life in Oak Harbor, and helping Cindy get up and off to work each morning (!).

Gary, Cindy and Dexter all three will be at the Shepard family reunion this summer, July 19, in Anacortes, Washington. We hope YOU will be there too!

Note about email addresses: You may have noticed that when I send out these messages by email, the only address you actually see is mine, even though the email goes out to about 25 family members and friends. In these days of so much junk mail, the fewer places our addresses are seen the better. If you would like to have the email addresses of the others on the list, just write me and let me know. Or if you would rather NOT have your email address available to others, please let me know that as well.

Steve

Shepard Family Update, Mar 14

Dear Family members and Friends,

Hello from Northern California on this day before the Ides of March!

Birthday wishes TODAY to Jerry Clark, in Lubbock, Texas! He was born on this day in 1950. Jerry has been a successful Balfour and Taylor Publishing Company Representative in Lubbock, Texas for over 30 years. He has lived in Lubbock since the late 1960s. when he was at Lubbock Christian University. Next month he and his wife Cathrina will celebrate their second wedding anniversary. Congratulations! They will both be with us this summer at the family reunion.

Fascinating Family Fact: Did you know? People have married into our Shepard family with very diverse ethnic origins -- Native American, Columbian, Hispanic, Irish, Norwegian, and many others. Those who marry into our family are not "direct descendants" of our Shepard ancestors, but they are very much a part of our family and contribute significantly to our life together. And most of them become parents of "direct descendants". But remember this: the Adam and Eve story reminds us that in the final analysis we are ALL blood related.

Family Faces. I am including two family pictures (You can click on the pictures to enlarge them). The first is an old one from August, 1970 and shows Linda Shepard, Jerry Clark, my wife Cindy Shepard, and me -- all of us in our early 20s. (Did we know how to dress back then, or what?) This picture was taken in front of our home on Armstrong Street in San Diego, possibly just before the rehearsal dinner for Linda and Jerry's wedding at the Linda Vista Church of Christ. Linda and Jerry were students at Lubbock Christian University at the time.

A year later Linda died in a tragic car accident, one of several untimely deaths in our family in the early 1970s. Every family member who lived at that time can attest to how difficult those deaths were, but also how they deepened us and our relationships. We have been blessed that Jerry Clark has remained a part of our family ever since Linda's death in 1971. In August of 1993, 22 years after the accident, a daughter was born in Anacortes, Washington to Linda's youngest brother Russell and his wife Pam. The name they chose to give her? Linda Shepard.

The other family picture is a December, 2006 photo of Darren and Vicki Boyd's 3 children - Courtney (in the blue charger shirt), Brandyn (sitting) and Kori Lynn (in pink). In the picture are also Kim (Boyd) Clark's 3 grandchildren - Ciara Ortiz, Ashlyn Ortiz, and Damian Ortiz (being held by Brandyn), children of Jeremy and Desiree Ortiz. All 6 live in the San Diego area. Darren and Vicki's oldest, Courtney, will graduate this spring from High School in Santee, Ca.

Remember: Shepard Family Reunion, Saturday, July 19, 2008, Anacortes, Washington. Maida and Barb and the others in Anacortes continue to make plans and look forward to being welcoming hosts for the event. We hope YOU will be there!

Steve
shepard@sierrawebworks.com

[P.S.... If you know of other family members or friends who would like to receive these messages, 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 emails.]

Shepard Family Update, Mar 7

Dear Family members and Friends,

I hope that everyone is doing well as we make our way into March. The family reunion on July 19, in Anacortes, Washington is only about 4 months away! A tentative list of those who will attend include: Maida, Barbara, Gary and Cindy, Kerri, Mandy and Lyndsay, Kelly and Nathaniel, Steve and Cindy and Nathan, Russ and Pam, Steven Paul and Linda, Thelma and Kim, Shannon and Emma, Darrell and his family, and Jerry and Cathrina. It will be quite a group. We hope YOU will be there!

Fascinating Family Fact: Did you know? Our Shepard family reflects a strong, historical connection to the Churches of Christ? Not all our family members share that affiliation, but many do. At least 6 generations of Church of Christ members can be found within our family. This connection can be traced back through Bura Davis Shepard (1896-1986), whose parents AND paternal grandparents were Church of Christ members. This family affiliation goes back at least 150 years to the mid 1800s, the early years of what is called "the Restoration Movement". That is an American religious movement which actually gave birth to three present-day groups: the Churches of Christ, the Independent Christian Church, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)).

Several years ago when my Dad and I visited the Church of Christ in Spencer, Indiana, we found the 1910 baptismal record for Bura Davis who was born in Spencer and was 14 when baptized. Just 5 years later -- after her family had moved to Beaver County, Oklahoma -- she married William Shepard. The South Flat Church of Christ near Elmwood in Beaver County was the church home for several of our family for many years (and perhaps still is today), and was where my Dad (and possibly his siblings) were baptized. When the family migrated to San Diego in 1940, the El Cajon Blvd Church of Christ became the church home for many of them for several decades.

Family Faces. I am including two family pictures (click on the pictures to enlarge them.). The first is from 1951 and shows Will and Bura Shepard and 5 of their 6 grandchildren at the time. (The only other grandchild was Rex Russell.) In the picture from left to right are: Beverly, Dane (being held by Bev), Gary, Gram holding Linda, and me, in Grandad's shadow. The picture was taken in front of their home not far from the El Cajon Blvd Church of Christ in San Diego. Sundays were often a time for grandparents, parents, and children to be together at church and afterwards. This may have been one such occasion. (I cannot remember any other reason for Grandad to be wearing a tie! Can you?)

The other is a picture of part of the Anacortes clan, taken last summer. It shows Russ and Pam Shepard and their children Linda and Steven. If you compare the pictures it is uncanny how similar are the smiles of Russ and his grandfather William Shepard (the hairlines are striking similar as well!) This second picture was taken on Orcas Island, one of the beautiful vacation spots in the San Juan Islands. Anacortes is the ferry stop known as "The Gateway to the San Juans." If you will be attending the reunion this summer, these islands are a wonderful place to visit.

Happy Birthday this coming week to Russell and Steven Paul Shepard, father and son, both born on March 13 (28 years apart!).
--
Steve

[P.S.... If you know of other family members or friends who would like to receive these messages, 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 emails.]