Dog Days of Summer, August 16, 2016

The reverence for the deeds of our ancestors

is a treacherous sentiment.

Their merit was not to reverence the old,

but to honor the present moment.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

During these dog days of summer, two events seem appropriate to bring to your attention.

Happy Birthday Linda Shepard. One is the birthday today of my niece Linda Shepard of Anacortes, Washington. Born and raised in Anacortes, Linda is the daughter of my brother Russ Shepard and his wife Pam, and the youngest granddaughter of Maida Shepard, also of Anacortes. Linda has lived almost her entire life in their home on 32nd St just down the street from the Church of Christ in town.

Last month Linda and her long time boyfriend Jamie Stockmoe announced their plans to be married. This first picture shows the two of them on South Jetty Beach in Oregon where Jamie proposed to Linda. Here's a first for The Shepard's Crook in this digital age: you can select this link to see a romantic video of the entire surprise proposal that took place July 22.

Congratulations to Linda and Jamie and best wishes! And happy 23rd birthday today to Linda.

Reconnecting With Family. Another recent event was a visit of my cousin Kim Boyd Clark and her mother Thelma Shepard Boyd with some relatives in Bolivar, Missouri. 

Kim and Thelma met with some Davis relatives who represent an important part of our extended family and its history. They were three cousins of my Aunt Thelma, daughters of Bura Davis Shepard's sister Winona Davis Kilpatrick.

This second picture shows those who were a part of this mini family reunion in Bolivar, Missouri. From left to right are Carolyn Kilpatrick Roberts, Shirley Kilpatrick Borgstadt, Thelma, Kim, and Norma Lou Kilpatrick Allen.

Here is Kim's report on the events of this past weekend:

We had such a great time today. We have the sweetest family. It was such a pleasure spending the day here in Bolivar. Carolyn made us a wonderful lunch. I can't wait to meet more of them and we found out that there is more family in Liberty, Missouri about 30 minutes from us.

This picture was taken at Carolyn's house. This is where we met and spent the afternoon. If it wasn't for you, Steve, this never would have happened. I can never thank you enough for the family you have searched and found and reconnected. I am so happy that my mom was able to see her cousins that she hasn't seen since she was a teenager. I loved every minute of our visit.

We are having some changes here. By the end of the month Jeff and I and my mom will be moving to another one of our properties in Grain Valley, Missouri which is only about 4 miles from Blue Springs. My mom has sold her house and will be moving in with us so we will all be moving in at the same time.

Thanks to Kim for sharing these details of a happy time with her mom's cousins and this opportunity to celebrate this kinship with family.

- - -

Steve Shepard

Footprints on the Sands of Time, November 18, 2015

The lives of great people remind us

that we can make our lives sublime 

and, departing, leave behind us 

footprints on the sands of time.

~Henry David Thoreau

Caroline Matilda Spear Davis (1865-1951). This month celebrates the 150th anniversary of the birth of my Great Grandmother Caroline Spear Davis who, with her husband James Brooks Davis, were the parents of 7 children, the oldest of whom was my grandmother Bura Davis Shepard. This first picture shows Bura Davis Shepard on the left in 1915, and her mother Caroline Spear Davis on the right in 1908.

Caroline (Callie) Spear Davis was born November 29, 1865, at the very end of the American Civil War and lived until 1951. Hers was a life that spanned an amazing period of time. Born in Owen County, Indiana where our Davis and Spear families had settled, she married James Brooks Davis there on New Year's Day, 1896. She, husband James, and their 7 children migrated from Indiana to Beaver County, Oklahoma in March, 1913, where they lived the rest of their lives.

Callie was the oldest of the 8 children of William and Maggie Spear, while her daughter Bura was the oldest of 7 children. I never knew my Great Grandmother Callie, but I did know well my Grandmother Bura Davis Shepard. What I have discovered about Callie in recent years helps to explain a lot about the kind of person Bura was. She obviously learned a lot about life from her mother Callie. They were both the oldest among their siblings. They both felt a great responsibility for the neediest members of their families. And they both helped carry the torch of faith and church in their family lives.

Callie Davis in the 1940 U.S. Census

Above is a snippet from the April, 1940 U.S. Census, the most recent Census for which we have information about Callie. (Click on the image to enlarge it.) These numbers are interesting: in November, 1940 (75 years ago) Callie celebrated her 75th birthday. At that time she had been a widow for 12 years, a resident of Oklahoma for 27 years, and would live yet another 11 years. In the fall of 1940, she must have still been missing her oldest daughter Bura who just two months earlier, with her husband William Shepard and their family, had moved to California and settled in San Diego.

The Census information above shows that in 1940 Callie was living with her brother Clayton Spear, who was 5 years younger than her. He was a special needs person who Callie had been taking care of, probably for most of his life. When Callie and family moved to Oklahoma in 1913, her brother Clayton came with them, evidently because there was no one else to care for him. This 1940 Census record shows that she was still taking care of him 27 years later. 

Another thing to note from this Census record is that the widow Callie and her needy brother Clayton were neighbors of her son Lawrence and his family, and her brother-in-law John Davis and his family. Just a couple of years after this time Callie and her family had to make the very difficult decision to institutionalize Clayton, who then died in 1944.

I am grateful for the life of my Great Grandmother Callie Spear Davis, for the difficult struggles she endured, for the values she instilled in her family, and for the wonderful family legacy that she has left behind. We honor her this month on the 150th anniversary of her birth.

A Response From Marjorie Eldred. After my last post regarding my grandmother Bura Davis Shepard, I received word from a shirt tail relation of hers, Margie Vaughn Eldred of Washington. Margie had two Kilpatrick uncles who married two Davis women who were sisters of Bura Davis. This sounds rather confusing but it simply refers to the fact that the Davises and the Kilpatricks intermarried back in Oklahoma in the early 20th century in ways that created friendships and relations that are still respected and remembered today.

This second picture illustrates the intermarrying of the Kilpatricks and the Davises. It shows James and Callie Davis in 1922 with 2 of their Kilpatrick grandchildren (Geneva and Bernard, in front of Callie). This picture also shows 3 of their Shepard grandchildren (Eugene on the left, Elmer in the middle, and Pauline in the back).

Here's Marjorie email:  

It was great to see the posts about the Davis branch of your Shepard family; of course it included aunts and uncles of mine also. There were ten siblings in the Samuel Allen Kilpatrick family so I'm sure descendants are scattered everywhere in these United States. Barney Kilpatrick was the brother that opened his home to Verlin, my oldest brother when the need arose. Norma Lou, Carolyn, and Shirley Kilpatrick became his substitute 'sisters.' 

Verlin told a story about what happened when he and the girls borrowed the family car to go fishing. They caught fish and stored them in the car while they roamed the vicinity, forgetting to reckon with the hot temperatures inside the locked car. As Verlin reported it, "Aunt Nona never did figure out how 'that smell' got inside the car, and no one volunteered any information."  My brother Verlin died in October of 2006. Marion, my mother, died in January that same year.

I'm working on a new book, a fiction full of the history of Vale, Oregon, the place where my Mom and Dad had their farm. All of my siblings and I grew up there. The book should be finished in the next few months. It will be titled Katie of Malheur Oregon Country. ...Marjorie (Vaughn Skelton) Eldred
- - -
Steve Shepard

A Faith That Lived In Grandmother, November 6, 2015

I am reminded of your sincere faith,

a faith that lived first in your grandmother.

~ The Apostle Paul

Bura Davis Shepard (1896-1986). This Sunday, November 8, is the anniversary of the birth of a person who has been gone for several decades now, but who was a dynamic force in our Shepard family for many years, my paternal grandmother Bura Davis Shepard. She was born 119 years ago this weekend outside Spencer, Indiana to Callie Spear Davis and her husband James Brooks Davis. She is the connection to our many Davis ancestors and relatives around the country, but especially in Oklahoma.

She was the standard bearer for our Shepard family's strong connection to the Church of Christ for nearly her entire life. She was part of a strong family tradition of Church of Christ people that can be traced to her Great Grandparents Alex and Jane Buskirk Davis who were from Eastern Ohio in the early years of the 19th century.

Her husband, my Granddad William Shepard, was also a long time member of the Church of Christ, but I always had the impression it was as a concession to her. Her commitment to the church was the dynamic force that moved through our family in a most powerful way.

Our Davis relatives today continue to be a source of kinship that has existed for generations. I was reunited recently with a long time family friend here in San Diego by the name of Richard Indermill. He is related by virtue of two of his uncles (Barney and William Kilpatrick), who married two of Bura Davis' sisters (Winona and Myra Davis). Even though these marriages occurred nearly 100 years ago, the bond that was created has importance even to this day.

I received word from my cousin Kim Boyd Clark recently that she discovered a relative in Missouri who she never even knew existed: Norma Lou Kilpatrick Allen of Springfield, Missouri, a long time reader of The Shepard's Crook. Turns out Norma Lou is a daughter of Barney Kilpatrick and Winona Davis Kilpatrick. Winona was the sister of Kim's Grandmother Bura Davis Shepard. (Winona is also the aunt of the aforementioned Richard Indermill.) Here is a picture that Kim sent me a few days ago, taken on the occasion of Kim and Norma Lou's happy meeting recently and the celebration of their kinship.

Many of us, Kim and myself included, can relate to the story of Timothy in the New Testament of the Bible. Timothy's life was influenced greatly by the faith of his grandmother. It was an impact that the Apostle Paul considered so important that he mentioned it in one of his letters that is now included among the books of the Bible. "I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you." (2 Timothy 1.5)

Surely all my Shepard cousins echo my sentiments that Grandmother Bura was a remarkable woman whose positive impact on our lives is felt still. God bless her memory as we remember this anniversary of her birth and as we celebrate her positive influence in our lives.

Happy Birthday today to Havilah Colgain Wardle! She is one of the Great Grandchildren of Bura and William Shepard, and is the daughter of my cousin Joan Shepard of Dixon, California. Havilah is married to Kevin Wardle and lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. Happy 33rd birthday today to Havilah! 

Fall means many things to many people. To Havilah it means grape stomping, as can be seen in this picture of Havilah taken last month.

Happy Birthday, Shaun. This Sunday, November 8, is also the birthday of Shaun Gower, the older son of my cousin Hershell Gower. Sean is the first of the Great Grandchildren of Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower. Born in England while his father Hershell was in the service, Sean and his wife Tracy live today in Escondido, California. 

Along with his brother Lloyd Gower, Sean has lived in the San Diego area nearly his entire life, as long as almost any of our Gower family members. This final picture shows Sean and his wife Tracy on the occasion of their wedding this past summer in Del Mar, California.
- - -
Steve Shepard

July Birthdays Everywhere, July 6, 2012

First we are children to our parents,

then parents to our children,

then parents to our parents,

then children to our children. 

~Milton Greenblatt

Hello Family and Friends,

After my last blog entry regarding celebrations on the week of July 4, Norma Lou Kilpatrick Allen of Bolivar, Missouri emailed me. Norma Lou is the niece of my grandmother Bura Davis Shepard.

I enjoyed reading about your week of July 4th. My husband and I have three children and were fortunate to welcome to this world our first born on the morning of July 4, 1951. She is now Beverly Scott Huppenthal. She is a small animal veterinarian living in Tempe, Arizona; her Gilbert Veterinary Hospital is in Gilbert, AZ.  She and her husband have two children; John who attends Arizona State, and Susan who attends Harding University. Just thought I would let you know of another of our extended family with a July 4th birthday.

Speaking of July births... Congratulations to Andrew and Susan Clark Cox of Lubbock, Texas. Susan reported on Facebook that she gave birth to her newest baby this past Monday, July 2. "Morgan June made a surprise entrance!!! We are so blessed!" Susan is the daughter of Jerry Clark and Jane Brock of Lubbock. The first picture shows father Andrew with new arrival Morgan June Cox. 

Today is the 30th birthday of Desiree Ortiz of Blue Springs, Missouri. Desiree is the wife of Jeremy Ortiz, a Ggrandson of Will and Bura Davis Shepard. Jeremy and Desiree have 5 children, the last two, twins Isaac and Dominic, were born April 23 and are now home from the hospital.

Desiree: I've been good, just really busy as you can imagine. I'm so glad to finally have my whole family home with me! The babies are doing so well and we are all getting use to their schedule -- after all, they are boss, lol! I will be 30 this Friday. I have my best friend Armand from San Diego as well as my brother Scott flying in this Thursday to celebrate with me and meet the boys! We will start the day by taking the boat and jet ski out to the lake for a few hours and then go to dinner. I haven't decided where I would like to go yet, so we will see. The year has just been flying by. I'm hoping that now that we are all together time will slow down for a minute and we can enjoy these little babies while they are still little because they grow to fast as you know!

Tomorrow is the 10th birthday of Nate Sauvage of Weatherford, Texas. Nate is the older brother of Kyle whose birthday we celebrated last week, and the son of James and Kelly Sauvage.

Kelly: Nate is having a good summer so far. He loves going to summer camp everyday and going on field trips. He is right there with me at every one of Kyle's baseball practices and games. Although I think he'd rather skip some of them. We are on vacation the week of July 4th and we have plans to hit a few local water parks...his favorite. He played basketball again this year which is his favorite sport. He had a 6 point game which was so exciting for him. He is definitely built for it. He's already almost as tall as me...I think he'll pass me by his next birthday. He is still the most loving boy I have ever met. He always wants to give everyone hugs and tell them he loves them. I am extremely blessed to have such loving, polite little boys!

Congratulations and best wishes to Norma Lou, Morgan June, Desiree, Nate and their families as they celebrate these early July births.
- - -
Steve

"Thanks To All Willing To Share", December 12, 2011

OUR history begins before we are born.

We represent the hereditary influences of our race,

and our ancestors virtually live in us.

James Nasmyth

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you wherever you may be, and however you may be surviving the December rush through Advent and Christmas.  Cindy and I find ourselves in Carlsbad, California vacationing this week with friends George and Diane. We are all of 30 miles from home!

I have written before about a family project to replace the headstones for two ancestors of ours, my GGGgrandfather Alexander Davis (1819-66) and his daughter Elizabeth (1843-67). They both reside beneath weathered and broken headstones in Spencer, Indiana. My second cousin Jerry Davis was the instigator of this project this past summer. He now tells me that we have raised the total amount needed from descendants of theirs. The headstone has been ordered and its creation is underway!

Jerry: I am getting anxious to get the stone in place and completed. I certainly appreciate all your assistance in helping to bring this to completion and that Alexander and Elizabeth will have a permanent grave marker. A BIG Thanks to all those who were willing to share with their contributions to see this completed.  We are blessed with such a loving and caring family.

Following is a list of relatives who were willing and able to contribute. Their names are in bold. Pictured are five of the donors: Jerry Davis, Stan Guy, Becky Davis, Gary Millikan and Thelma Boyd.

Descendants of Alexander Davis/ Charles Edward Davis/ John E. Davis:

• Stanley Guy (Dallas, Texas) - grandson of John Davis  
• Jon D. Guy (Arnett, Ok.) - grandson of John Davis
• Milfred W. Davis (Amarillo, Texas) - son of John Davis
• William P. "Bill' Davis (Alamogordo, N.M.) - grandson of John Davis   
  
• Jerry D. Davis (Grand Prairie, Texas) - grandson of John Davis  

Descendants of Alexander Davis/Charles Edward Davis/James Brooks Davis:  

• Jim and Nancy Bushong (Oologah, Ok.) - great grandson of J.B. Davis
• Becky Davis (Bartlesville, Ok.) - granddaughter of J.B. Davis
• Gary Millikan (Tulsa, Ok.)- grandson of J.B. Davis
• Steve and Cindy Shepard (San Diego, Ca.) - great grandson of J.B. Davis  
• Thelma Shepard Boyd (Gallup, N.M.) - granddaughter of J.B. Davis
• Norma Lou Allen (Bolivar, Mo.) - granddaughter of J.B. Davis
• Shirley Borgstadt (Springfield, Mo.) - granddaughter of J.B. Davis 
  
• Carolyn Roberts (Bolivar, Mo.) - granddaughter of J.B. Davis
  Note: Norma Lou, Shirley and Carolyn's contribution is in memory of their mother Nona Davis Kilpatrick and sister Venita Kilpatrick Bridger.

Descendant of Alexander Davis/Charles Edward Davis/Thomas Davis:

• Julie Coble Vandagriff (Bedford, Indiana) - great granddaughter of Tom Davis

Descendants of Alexander Davis/Samilda Dorcas Davis Medaris/Ada Medaris Johnson:  

• Kellene Hardy (Richardson, Texas) - granddaughter of Ada Johnson
• Jaydene Morrison (Nederland, Colorado) - granddaughter of Ada Johnson

Descendant of Alexander Davis/Salathiel George Davis/Harry Davis:  

• Scott G. Davis (Oklahoma City) - grandson of Harry Davis

The donors above represent a unique cross section of descendants of Alexander and Jane Davis. Not a single person in this list knows every other person on the list, but we are all related nonetheless. And we are now united as family in a common cause. The bottom line though is that this project is a wonderful tribute to our Davis ancestors who lived through some great hardships and left a wonderful legacy for which we can be very grateful. Replacing their headstones not only witnesses to the impact they made, it also shows the high esteem in which we hold them.

And maybe it indicates, as James Nasmyth says in the quote above, that "our ancestors virtually live in us".

- - -

Steve

Shepard Family Update, February 5, 2010

We cannot destroy kindred:
our chains stretch a little sometimes,
but they never break.
~Marquise de Sévigné

Hello Shepard family and friends,

Greetings to all of you wherever you may be. It has been a cool, delightful winter week here in our home town, with some family drama. But life goes on and it is all good.

Wedding Bells! The latest adventure in matrimony in our family occurred two weeks ago when Havilah Colgain married Kevin Wardle in a beautiful wilderness area called "The Little Grand Canyon", south of Price, Utah. Havilah is the daughter of Art Colgain of Kaysville, Utah, and Joan Shepard of Dixon, California. She is also Elmer Shepard's granddaughter. She wrote the following about recent events.

The wedding was fabulous. The weather was great and we all had a blast. I was determined to get a picture of me shooting my 9mm in my wedding dress - the photographer got it! Lol! Mom did target practice, too, and did really well. When she starting doing a victory dance with the gun, we had to take it away from her. There is a priceless picture of her sledding, too. She had so much fun. It was definitely the most perfect day.

Kauai was beautiful. We saw a whale jump completely out of the water. The dolphins swam right next to the boat. We met a few turtles on the beach, as well as a seal. I am a big fan of tropical plants and I couldn't stop ooing and awing every moment of every day. We made it home with more additions to our already mammoth houseplant inventory. Thanks for all your emails and notes. We so appreciate your love and support. -Havilah

The first picture I am including shows Havilah in her wedding dress on her wedding day, January 23. The second picture show her with her new husband Kevin while they were honeymooning in Kauai, Hawaii last week. They make their home now in West Valley City, Utah. Best wishes to them for a wonderful life together!

Two Buttes Memories. Last week I included a picture of Havilah's Ggrandfather William Shepard taken in the early 1930's. After Will's niece Norma Lou (Kilpatrick) Allen of Bolivar, Missouri saw that picture, she emailed me with some childhood recollections.

Hi Steve: Thanks for the picture of "Uncle Will" (as I knew him). I always thought he was a lot of fun. He used to tease me. I would occasionally see him in Two Buttes, Colorado when I was just a little girl (born in 1928). I would be on the way home from school and would see him sitting on a crate in front of the grocery store.

We lived about two miles out of town on a farm. My dad, Barney Kilpatrick, was married to Winona Davis, Bura's sister. My daddy and my Uncle Bill ("Will Allie" Kilpatrick) farmed together. I remember a beautiful alfalfa field between our farms, watered by irrigation. When water came in we kids all got to go down and play in the irrigation ditch; a wonderful thing, we thought. :-)

I only signed in to tell you that that is just the way Uncle Will looked. When the dust bowl hit (1935), everyone moved to California and our family moved to Missouri. We enjoy your letters and pictures so much. Thank you. -Norma Lou Allen.

This final picture I am including today, like last week's picture of William Shepard, was taken in Two Buttes, Colorado, in the 1930's. It shows Will and Bura Shepard's younger son Eugene William Shepard. On the back of the original photo is the date of Feb., 1935 (75 years ago this month) which would make Gene Shepard 13 years old at the time.
- -
Steve

Shepard Family Update October 16, 2009

The home is not the one tame place

in a world of adventure;

it is the one wild place 

in a world of rules and set tasks.

- G.K. Chesterton

Hello Shepard Family and Friends,

Greetings on this beautiful fall day from the mountains of Northern California where Cindy and I are spending a few days. The record setting rains of this past Tuesday are now over, the air is clean and fresh, and there is a beautiful backdrop of tall green pines and cedars.

I am not sure exactly what G.K. Chesterton had in mind in the quote above, but I like the sentiment. It seems to me to point toward something important about the very nature of the best families. I wonder if his family was as wildly busy with activities as many of ours are. Some of our families might affectionately be described as "where the wild things are."

Sunday is the 101st anniversary of the birthday of Willie Davis Russell, who was Bura and Will Shepard's first son-in-law. Uncle Bill -- as many of us knew him -- was the first to marry into the family of Will and Bura when he married their daughter Pauline in 1935. Bill, who had a wonderful sense of humor, was born in Gage, Oklahoma, married Pauline Shepard in Springfield, Colorado, and moved to San Diego in 1940 where they both lived for the rest of their lives. Bill and Pauline both passed away about 10 years ago, but have the following living family members today: their son Rex Russell and their grandson Eric Russell and his wife Ruth of Red Rock, Nevada; and their granddaughter Shannon Wilk and her daughter Emma of Atchison, Kansas.

The first picture shows Bill and Pauline (Shepard) Russell at a family reunion in Anacortes, Washington in 1994. (Click on the picture to see a larger view.) Also in the picture on the front row on the left is my aunt Vicki Johnston of Oak Harbor, Washington (whose birthday also happen to be this Sunday; happy birthday to her!). My dad Eugene Shepard is also on the front row on the right. In the back are Vicki's daughter Paula Tuzzolino, Kerri Aquiningoc (holding daughter Mandi), Nathan and Cindy Shepard, Barbara Shepard, Kelly Sauvage (holding niece Lyndsey) and Pam Shepard (holding daughter Linda).

Sunday is also the birthday of Kori Lynn Boyd, the 19th Ggrandchild of Will and Bura Shepard. Thelma and Terry Boyd of Gallup, New Mexico are her grandparents; Darren and Vikki Boyd of Lakeside, California are her parents.

Vikki emailed me recently to say, Kori is doing very well, she is having fun at Hill Creek School in Santee. This picture was taken in our pool which she loves to be in when it is hot. She stays busy with school and LOTS of homework. She is currently playing Volleyball and will be starting basketball in November. Kori is the photographer in the family and loves to take pictures. We take her out whenever we can to take pictures of different things. She seems to have an eye for photography. 

Tomorrow is the birthday of Art Colgain, of Kaysville, Utah, father of Havilah Colgain of West Valley City, Utah. Havilah is the daughter of Joan Shepard and the granddaughter of Elmer Shepard of Newcastle, Oklahoma. She is also the 8th Ggrandchild of Will and Bura Shepard. Happy Birthday to Art!

Last week I sent out an old 1950s picture of Will and Bura Shepard with Bura's sister Winona and husband Barney Kilpatrick. In response I heard from Winona and Barney's daughter Norma Lou (Kilpatrick) Allen of Bolivar, Missouri, who said, Thank you so much for all you do. I just sat here with a silly smile looking at Mother and Daddy (Barney and Winona) on this computer page. That is especially nice of all four of them. We did not ever live in Oklahoma. They were married and lived in Two Buttes, Colorado. We had probably been visiting family in Beaver County, OK. and continued on to California. Our family always had so much fun making those trips. It seemed like we came out every summer for a month. Thanks again. 

May the wildness of your family give you great joy this week. 
- - -
Steve

Shepard Family Update, October 2, 2009

.

Our most basic instinct
is not for survival but for family. 
Most of us would give our own life 
for the survival of a family member, 
yet we lead our daily life too often 
as if we take our family for granted. 
~Paul Pearshall

Hello Shepard Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you from San Diego. Cindy and I are back from our recent trip and are glad to be home. We ate too much (but never enough Greek salads!), enjoyed ourselves with friends, learned a little more Greek, saw places visited by the Apostle Paul, marveled at some spectacular Mediterranean sunsets, spend part of a day in a foreign emergency room, and took lots of pictures (click here to see some of them).  

Happy Anniversary. This weekend marks the 200th anniversary of the American religious phenomenon known as the Restoration Movement, also called the Stone-Campbell Tradition. It is a great American story (and a continuing story) that deserves recognition. Actually, throughout this entire year of 2009 numerous groups of persons related to the churches of the Restoration Movement have gathered at various times to mark this milestone and celebrate the original ideals of Alexander Campbell and others. I have mentioned in recent weeks that many of our family members have been integrally involved in various congregations of this particular movement for 150 years, particularly in Churches of Christ, but also in the Christian Church. Therefore it seems appropriate to recognize and celebrate this anniversary. So hats off to all those Shepards, Davises, Millikans, Kilpatricks, Boyds, Clarks, Allens, and any others in our circle of family and friends who are members of congregations of this movement. For more information about this anniversary and its celebrations visit GreatCommunion.org.

Last week I included an old picture from 1972 in which there was a young boy whom I could not identify. Thanks to Maida and Barbara Shepard (two other people in the picture) for saving the boy from the terrible fate of anonymity. Bart Pruitt is his name, and he is the son of Harvey Pruitt, the President of the school from which Jerry Clark, who was also in the picture, had just graduated.

A Picture of FIRSTS. The second picture I am including this week was taken in San Diego in 1965 and shows Bura (Davis) Shepard in yet one more 4-generation-picture that our family has been fond of over the years. On the upper left is Pauline (Shepard) Russell, Bura and Will Shepard's first born. On the upper right is Rex Russell, Pauline's first born (Bura's first grandchild). The infant is Eric Russell -- Rex's first child, Pauline's first grandchild, and Bura's first great grandchild. Bura was born (as a first born child herself) in 1896, Pauline in 1916, Rex in 1936, and then Eric in 1965.

The corsage on Bura, the table in the back, and the look on her face all suggest that this was a special day for her. On the photo from which this image was taken is stamped, by the developer, the date Feb 1966. That may have been when they got around to developing that roll of film (remember those days?). My guess is that this picture was probably taken at the celebration of Bura and Will's 50th wedding anniversary, which occurred June 3, 1965. At that time Eric was 5 months old and Bura was 68, relatively young to be celebrating such a milestone.

Little did they know at the time that Bura and Will Shepard would eventually have 20 great grandchildren, born over the following 34 years. Both Bura and Pauline have since passed away, Bura 23 years ago last month, and Pauline 9 years ago this month. Rex and Eric Russell both now live in Red Rock, Nevada.
 
Changes and Transitions. If your email address happens to change, just drop me a line and I will gladly change it on our mailing list. Or if you know of some other family members or friends who might like to be on this mailing list, just let me know. If you need to be taken off this list, send me an email and I can do that as well. Or if you have family pictures or memories or news that you'd like to share, please let me know.
- - -
Steve

Shepard Family Update, March 27, 2009

Families are the compass that guide us.
They are the inspiration to reach great heights,
and our comfort when we occasionally falter.
-- Brad Henry

Dear Shepard Family and Friends,

Hello on this last Friday of March! It is a beautiful spring day in San Diego, warm even though it is a little overcast. I hope spring is treating you as well wherever you may be.

Welcome to two new members of our online readership, sisters of Norma Lou Allen: Carolyn Kilpatrick Roberts of Bolivar, Missouri and Shirley Kilpatrick Borgstadt of Springfield, Missouri. They are both nieces of Bura Davis Shepard and are members of the Kilpatrick clan, whose family tree branches intertwine with ours.

This coming Tuesday is a milestone birthday for Joan Shepard who is the 7th grandchild of Will and Bura Shepard and the daughter of Elmer and Beryl Shepard. Joan is originally from the San Diego area, but now lives in Dixon, California. She stays busy as a full time High School teacher, as well as directing an independent studies program in Dixon. In addition she is a teaching assistant at a private school for hypnotherapy in Auburn, California. But most of all she is the proud mother of Havilah Colgain. Happy Birthday, Joan!

She wrote me recently and said, "Life is good. Spring is simply gorgeous now in the Sacramento valley. Soon, I'll plant some vegetables in the front courtyard. I keep waiting for "victory gardens" to replace front lawns in our stretch of suburbia, but so far I see herbs and a zucchini plant here and there. I enjoy our rainbow chard that sprouts up anywhere a seed lands and seems to be perennial. The plants remind me of Gram's garden in Lakeside. She loved green chard and rhubarb (I planted some in her honor), which she ate with cottage cheese. The local co-op sells quince, another home-grown food she loved. I always think of her resourcefulness, especially as I plant seeds that will last as long as I'm around."

The first picture I am including shows Joan with her daughter Havilah who lives in Utah, near her father Art Colgain. It was taken a few months ago in the Utah desert just outside Price, when Joan was there visiting.

The second picture I am including was taken about 1961 and shows Will and Bura Shepard with several of their family. This photo may have been taken at the Russell home on Mandalay Place in San Diego. It is an unusual picture, being rather dark, both in the feel of the photo as well as the actual color. The one bright spot, however, is birthday girl Joan at 7 years old, in front on the right.

From left to right in the picture is Joan's brother Dane Shepard, then a rather ominous looking Will Shepard, next to his wife Bura Davis Shepard (both of whom deserved better from the photographer!). In the beehive hairdos are Beverly Russell and her mother Pauline Shepard Russell. Next are Thelma Shepard Boyd and her partially hidden husband Terry Boyd, then Joan's parents Beryl and Elmer Shepard.

Many of us are looking forward to the Shepard Family Reunion that will take place this summer on July 18 at Newcastle, Oklahoma. It will be hosted by Dane Shepard. All family members and friends are welcome to attend.
--
Steve

Shepard Family Update, October 10

Hello Shepard Family Members and Friends,

We made it back from our Spain trip last weekend and got off the plane in San Francisco with wicked head colds, but are doing much better now. Here is a link to some pictures from that trip.

I received word from Dane recently, who said that his Dad Elmer's operation went well. "It was outpatient surgery where they made two small incisions on his spine and applied cement/glue to his compression fracture. He came out of surgery doing well and ate all of the light meal they gave him. He seems to get disoriented whenever he returns home and this time he was very uncomfortable from the soreness of his operation. He laments that he was doing well until this episode. He was bending over and making his bed when it occurred. He'll have to be more careful with lifting and bending in the future. I think his back will be fine. This type of surgery has a high success rate. Lord willing, we can all make plans for next summer's reunion."

Speaking of next year's family reunion in Oklahoma, Dane and Kim are still thinking about when would be the best time for the reunion. If there are certain parts of the summer that would be better or worse for you, please let one of them, or me, know. They want to set a date that will work best for everyone.

Kim emailed me from Gallup, New Mexico, recently. "Jeff and my mom did some research yesterday and found all of Nona Kilpatrick's family. They are in Bolivar, MO. My mom called Norma Lou Allen and we are going to meet them in about a month. They are having a Davis/Kilpatrick reunion in 2 years in Branson, MO and they are inviting all of us. You got us motivated to find people - it's fun." Two of Bura Davis Shepard's (Gram's) sisters married Kilpatrick brothers, which gives us a couple of linkages to that family.

I am including two pictures - the first one illustrates the connection between the Shepard family and the Davis-Kilpatrick family. (Click on the image to see a larger view of it.) It is a picture of Will and Bura (Grandad and Gram) with Myra Davis (Gram's sister) and her husband Will Allen Kilpatrick. This picture was taken in 1958 in San Diego, when Myra and Will Allen were visiting from Oklahoma.

The other picture was taken just a few weeks ago and shows Kim Clark with husband Jeff and daughter Amanda, along with Dane and Cindy Shepard and their children Nathan and Kaylan. Thanks, Dane, for sending me both these pictures. In the picture of you and your family, is that a Christmas display in the background? In September? (Is this is one of those crazy results of the financial meltdown? Say it isn't so!)

Two other health concerns to report to you: I received word this week that Thelma had cataract surgery recently in Gallup, N.M., and will have some more next Wednesday. We're glad you are doing well, Thelma, and that the surgery was successful.

My brother Darrell wrote me to say that "Mary was tested this week and she does have cancer of the kidney. They are recommending surgery to remove the cancerous kidney. We will meet with the surgeon tomorrow (Friday) to talk about a date and time. Feel free to include this news in your weekly family emails." Our prayers and very best wishes are with Thelma and Mary (and Elmer) as they deal with important health matters.
--
Steve