Comings and Goings, March 9, 2013

My soul longs for your dwelling place

and to see you face to face.

~Becky Davis

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you from cool and rainy San Diego. This coming Wednes- day is the Birthday of my brother Russell Shepard and his son Steven Paul Shepard, who were both born March 13. Russ and Steve live in Anacortes, Washington. Happy Birthday to both of them!

The first composite picture shows Russ and Steve with Russ' mother Maida Shepard.

Becky Davis (1938-2013). I received word from cousin Bud Davis that his sister Becky Davis of Bartlesville, Oklahoma passed away just this past Thursday. Becky was a niece of my grandmother Bura Davis Shepard and a great lover of family history. Over the 5 years that I have written this blog Becky has corresponded with me several times and has been a great resource for her part of our family. 

The second picture taken in 2009 shows Becky in the middle with her sisters Jessie, Charlotte and Kathryn, and with cousin Dane Shepard.

Bud: Becky passed away this morning [Thursday] approximately 10 a.m. Her family, the hospice nurse and her minister were with her at the time of passing. One of the last requests was for us to read from Psalms including Psalm 23. We are sad to lose Becky but know she is singing and laughing in her unique way in heaven with the Lord.

Recently when attending a class at church on Psalms, the class members were asked to write a psalm of their own much like David did. The following is what she wrote:

My soul longs for your dwelling place and to see you face to face.  
As wonderful as earth is and all the things you give us to enjoy, 
there are times when pain and trouble overwhelm me.
I long for you.

Forgive me and give me peace 
and help me know that others are hurting more than I am, 
and think of your loving kindness, righteousness and justice 
and to be at peace.
I love you.

Our prayers and best wishes are with all Becky's family in this time of loss.

Irish Eyes Are Smiling. This month of Saint Patrick's Day I plan to mention in each blog post at least one of the Irish immigrants that are in our family tree. One of our most recent ancestors to immigrate to America from Ireland was James Spear (1768-1821) who is a relative of both Becky Davis and me. 

James Spear came from County Armaugh, (Northern) Ireland to Pennsyl- vania as a young man, probably in the 1780s, and married an American woman named Elizabeth Mcconnahaw in 1788. (With a name like Mcconnahaw, she may have been Irish herself, but I have no evidence for that.) Their grandson William Spear, born in Pennsylvania in 1832, eventually moved westward and settled in Owen County, Indiana where he met and married Margaret Frances Williams. William and Margaret's oldest child was Caroline Matilda Spear who married fellow hoosier James Brooks Davis, the grandfather of both Becky Davis and my father Eugene Shepard. 

A number of Spear descendants of immigrant James Spear settled near Spencer, Owen County, Indiana. Two years ago Cindy and I visited the Spear Cemetery, a few miles from Spencer, Indiana where laid to rest are a number of our ancestors, who are descendants of Irishman James and Elizabeth Spear. The third picture shows the peaceful Spear Cemetery outside Spencer, Indiana. (Read more HERE about this cemetery and our visit there.)
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Steve Shepard