Maida's Graveside Service

Yesterday we laid my mother to rest as she took her final resting place in Greenwood Cemetery in San Diego. Maida Imogene Gower Shepard (1924-2023) lived until just a few months short of her 99th Birthday. She lived a wonderful life. From Arkansas to Oklahoma to San Diego to Washington, hers was a life well lived. As a mother, a wife, a daughter, and a Christian she lived a resplendent life and touched numerous others with her infectious spirit, beautiful heart and deep faith. 

Greenwood Cemetery in San Diego is the resting place of numerous members of our family. The plot where Mom now resides is next to her husband Eugene Shepard, and a few steps away from her daughter Linda. A few steps in a different direction are our Shepard grandparents and our Gower grandparents, plus various aunts, uncles and cousins. The family stories and memories represented by the family members there are too numerous to count. They tell the multi-faceted tale of our family in San Diego since 1940 when the Shepards first came to California from Oklahoma and Colorado.

With Cindy and me at the gathering yesterday was cousin Kim Clark and husband Jeff. We had a very  meaningful but short service of thanks for Maida as we recounted her life and asked God's blessing on her and her family.

May God bless the memory of Maida Shepard who meant so much to all her family. Her memory will be a blessing to our family for generations to come.
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Steve Shepard