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Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone.
—Gladys Browyn Stern
Hello Shepard family and friends,
Greetings from sunny San Diego on this day after Thanksgiving.
Back in "the golden days" of the Shepard family (the 1940s, 50s and 60s) all of Will and Bura Shepard's children and grandchildren lived in San Diego. Many of us have memories of when we all would gather for Thanksgiving dinner, often at the home of Elmer and Beryl Shepard on Osage Trail in the suburb of Winter Gardens. The first picture I am including today was taken in that very setting 49 years ago yesterday. (Select the picture to see a larger view.) It shows Will and Bura Shepard, their 4 children and their spouses, and 8 of their 9 grandchildren at the time (Beverly Russell is not seen and may have been taking the picture). Barbara Shepard (on the left in front) at 1 year old was the youngest family member.
I am grateful for every member of our larger family, in particular all of you who are on this emailing list, regardless of the particular part of our family you happen to belong to. In a special way I am thankful for Dane Shepard who sent out the last two weekly emails, while Cindy and I were away. We got home just in time for turkey day! (See some pictures of our latest trip.) I hope you were able to spend the holiday with your family and/or friends whether you live in Washington, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina or anywhere else members of our larger family happen to reside.
Speaking of North Carolina, that is where fourth cousin Pamela Williams Martin lives. She loves family research and it is always a joy to compare notes with her. We share a GGGgrandfather, John Pouty Williams, who was Bura Davis Shepard's Ggrandfather. Pam wrote me recently to say, "I have some sad news. My oldest sister, Judy (Williams Franciscy), passed away Friday (Nov 13) after a long illness. She was the glue that held all of us children together. Judy will be greatly missed. Of all of the thousands of listings that I have made in my genealogy research, this one is by far the hardest to enter." Our prayers and best wishes are with Pam and her entire family in this time of loss.
Some happier news for this week: This Sunday is the birthday of Damian Ortiz of El Cajon, California AND his Grandmother Kim Clark, a San Diegan at heart who lives in Blue Springs, Missouri. Kim emailed me recently with the following.
My Yorkie puppies are 5 months old and I bet you can guess their names... Cali and Diego. I just wish I had half their energy. It's getting pretty cold here. We had about 1 inch of snow a week ago. It probably won't be long until we get more. You inspired me to look up ancestry.com for my dad's side and I'm finding that they all started in Arkansas and Oklahoma. I guess there is no escaping the Midwest from either side. It is really special to have a grandchild that was born on my birthday.
Damian is the 8th GGgrandchild of Will and Bura Shepard and has the honor of being their youngest descendant (for the next few months anyway!). His mother Desiree Ortiz emailed me recently and shared the following.
Here is a picture of Damian in his favorite outfit, a Charger Jersey and jeans. Damian will be three and he is such a joy! He is all boy, he loves to jump, climb, run and play all sports. He especially loves football. His birthday party will be Charger themed! :) Damian is a fun and exciting kid. He takes me on daily adventures! We love him so much, and couldn't be any prouder to have a son like him.
My brother Darrell had planned to send out the family email this week, but due to some unexpected events, he asked to put it off until a future date. I am hopeful that we will hear from him in a family email sometime in the future. Best wishes to him and his family.
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Steve