Celebrating 75 Years, Dec 11, 2017

Your brothers, sisters, children, parents...
Make no mistake, your relationships
are the heaviest components in your life.
~Ryan Bingham

75 years ago this month my Grandmother Nola Shannon Gower, and my mother Maida Gower Shepard moved to San Diego from Okemah, Oklahoma. My Mom's young sister Vicki Gower Johnston was also a part of this female threesome who made the arduous bus trip from Oklahoma to Southern California. They came to be reunited with husband Leroy and son Hendrix and wife Starlene.

The journey was on two lane roads all the way, along what is today a bustling interstate highway. In the winter of 1942 it was slow going compared to recent times. At that time World War II was in full swing, with San Diego being a major player in "the war effort."
 

Nola and Leroy Gower, 1942

Grandpa Leroy Gower, with his son Hendrix and pregnant wife Starlene had come to San Diego the previous summer to get jobs and make enough money to send for the three girls they had left behind in Oklahoma. After several months "the men folk" scrimped and saved enough to send money home. Grandma Gower then made travel arrangements for her and her daughters Maida and Vicki to come to the West Coast in the most practical way: by Greyhound bus.

Traveling by bus was a very common way of getting around the country in those days. The accompanying image is a poster from 1942 which illustrates how common bus travel was and how it even contributed to the all encompassing effort to win World War II.

My mom remembers it being a very difficult 1,400 mile trip. The emotional part of separating from their father and other family was hard enough. It was also difficult leaving the area of the country that had been home to them, where they had been settled and felt comfortable, and to adjust to a place they had never even seen before. San Diego was a big city that must have stood in great contrast to the small country town of Okemah, Oklahoma. The physical part of the bus trip was difficult too: sitting hours on end, day and night, watching the desolate Southwest landscape pass by. Besides all that, onboard bathrooms did not come along until 1954!

It was a draining journey for many reasons for these three women. Mother Nola was just 39 years old, while daughters Maida and Vicki were just 18 and 9 years old. They traveled alone as they made their way to their new life in San Diego.



Starlene Bass Gower, Maida Gower, 1943

In the 75 years since that time the Gower family, which numbered just 6 in 1942, has grown and evolved and scattered tremendously. Before the decade of the 1940s was complete, both daughters were married and four Grandsons had been born to Leroy and Nola, myself being the fourth. In their first 20 years in San Diego all 12 Gower grandchildren had been born, and the family was enjoying the prosperous life of the post-war years in Southern California.

Leroy and Nola are gone now, of course, but their legacy remains. Their descendants, which number over 50 today, have scattered to Washington, Texas, Arizona, and even Tokyo, Japan. My immediate family and I are among the few descendants who still live here in San Diego. Great Grandsons Shawn and Lloyd Gower and their families are the only others who still live here in the San Diego area.

A lot has happened to the Gowers in those 75 years since Leroy and Nola's family came to San Diego from Oklahoma. But it all goes back to those watershed events of 1942, when the decisions were made to move west, and then the hard work of relocating took place. I am grateful to my grandparents for their foresight, and the challenge they accepted to pick up roots and relocate themselves in California. Their decision to move west set the course for our family which has had tremendous ramifications for each of us.
- - -
Steve Shepard

December Celebrations Begin, December 5, 2015

The flower that blooms in adversity

is the most rare and beautiful of all.

~the Emperor in "Mulan"

As December gets underway, two celebrations are in order to begin this special season, one highlights a present day young family, the other family members from a generation ago.

Happy Birthday to Patrick! Today, December 5, is the birthday of my nephew Patrick Joseph Shepard of Bothell, Wash- ington. Pat is the youngest child of my brother Darrell and his wife Mary Shepard. He was born in 1990 in Portland, Oregon, but lives today in Bothell with his wife Nicole and their young sons Logan and Mason. Pat is the Administrator of Rosewood Courte Memory Care, a health care facility in nearby Edmonds, Washington. 

This first picture shows Pat and Nicole at their home in Bothell. It was taken last summer at the family reunion that was held at their home. 

Hendrix Gower (1922-2004). This coming Tuesday is the anniversary of the birth of my uncle Hendrix (Hank) Gower, the oldest child of my grandparents Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower. He passed away in San Diego 11 years ago.

Hank and his older sister, my mother Maida Gower Shepard, were the last of our Gower family members to be born in Mountain View, Arkansas. Mountain View was where our Gower ancestors had been settled for several generations before my Gower grandparents began migrating westward, first to Oklahoma in the 1920s and then to San Diego, California in 1942. Hank and his late wife Starlene Bass Gower came to California as a young couple and gave birth to two sons here, Hershell and Jimmie Gower. They were both raised in San Diego but live today in Arizona along the Colorado River.

This second picture shows my uncle Hank on the far left. It is a family picture taken in Anacortes, Washington 27 years ago in the summer of 1988. 

From left to right are Hank, then his sister Vicki Gower Wilson, who in just a few months would celebrate her 55th birthday on October 18 by marrying Duke Johnston. In the picture next to Vicki is Hank's nephew Russ Shepard and wife Pam, then Hank's other sister Maida Shepard and husband Gene Shepard. On the right are Cindy and I and our son Nathan. 

Hank and his wife Aurora were visiting in Washington at the time from California, as was Cindy and I and Nathan. All the others were living in Washington at the time.

It is a happy bunch with smiles on all the faces. Aurora was the photographer who took the picture, and did her job well by saying or doing something that elicited smiles from everyone.
- - -
Steve Shepard 

Greetings From Baja, February 20, 2015

Friends and family are my support system.
Without them I would have no idea 
where I would be.
~Kelly Clarkson

Hello to all of you from "The Giggling Marlin", a restaurant in Cabo San Lucas in Baja California, where WiFi makes connection to the internet possible. Cindy and I are currently on a Mexican Princess Cruise which is traveling down the coast of California and Baja California, stopping at several Mexican ports of call. Today we are at our first stop, in Cabo.

This first picture, taken last night, shows Cindy and me on one of the open decks of our ship, enjoying a beautiful sunset over the Pacific Ocean.

Happy Birthday to my cousin Hershell Gower who lives with his wife Shelly in Bullhead City, Arizona. Hershell is the first and therefore the oldest of the 12 grandchildren of the late Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower. Born in San Diego during World War II he is the first born of Hendrix and Starlene Gower. Hershell began the Gower baby boom that included the births of their 12 grandchildren over the 19 years following his birth.

Hershell was born at just about the same time that my mom Maida Gower Shepard met my father Eugene Shepard. They were married in 1945 and the Shepard and Gower families became forever linked. 

This second picture shows my mom Maida Gower -- an older teenager at the time -- holding her first nephew and the first Gower grandchild Hershell. This picture was taken in 1943 in San Diego.

Hershell has two sons, Shaun and Lloyd, who live in the north county of San Diego. Hershell's younger son Lloyd has two daughters, Amber and Autumn Gower, who are among the oldest great grandchildren of Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower. 
- - -
Steve Shepard

Something Steady in a Confusing World, December 4, 2014

Family traditions counter alienation and confusion.
They help us define who we are;
they provide something steady, reliable
and safe in a confusing world.
~Susan Lieberman

Tomorrow, December 5, is the 24th birthday of my nephew Patrick Shepard who lives with his wife Nicole and son Logan in Bothell, Washington. Patrick is the son of my brother Darrell and his wife Mary Shepard. Pat is the Administrator of a Health Care facility in the Seattle area. 

He and his wife Nicole are scheduled to welcome their second son into the world next Friday, December 12 at Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, Washington. Their older son is Logan Joseph Shepard who was born in July of last year. Needless to say Pat and Nicole are staying very busy these days with Pat's full time job, a 16 month old son, and another son due in a matter of days. Happy Birthday and best wishes to Pat and his family!

The first picture, taken this fall, shows Pat with his wife Nicole and their son Logan in costume, as well as one of the family chickens.

Remembering Hank Gower. This coming Monday, December 8 is the anniversary of the birth of my uncle Hendrix "Hank" Gower, who was born in 1922 in Mountain View, Arkansas. He is the brother of my mother Maida Gower Shepard and her sister Vicki Gower Johnston. The second picture shows Hank (in the blue shirt), with his second wife Aurora. Also in this picture are his niece Heather Robson, his sister Vicki and his brother-in-law Gene Shepard. This picture was taken in Anacortes, Washington in 1990 on the top of Mount Erie, with picturesque Mount Baker in the background.

The first of the 3 children of Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower, Hank was a young man when he migrated from Oklahoma in 1942 with his family to San Diego which is where he lived the rest of his life and where he died 10 years ago. He was a young child when his parents moved in 1925 to Okemah, Oklahoma where he was raised and where he met and married Starlene Bass. Their two sons Hershell and Jimmie Gower were born after their move to San Diego during World War II.

He was an integral part of our family life in San Diego throughout the second half of the 20th century. Hank retired from Railway Express in San Diego, in addition to owning a card room on University Avenue. He and his second wife Aurora Agnibene lived for many years with his mother Nola Gower in San Diego caring for her in her later years. One of his life long interests was fishing, hence this next picture taken in 1964, showing him at a scenic fishing location, probably somewhere in San Diego area.

Most of Hank's descendants still live in the Southern California area today, including two of his grandsons Shaun and Lloyd Gower and their families. Hank's sons Hershell and Jimmie Gower are retired and live with their spouses in Arizona along the Colorado River. Hank is buried today alongside a number of other Shepard and Gower family members in Greenwood Cemetery in San Diego.

One of my not so pleasant but very important families memories regarding Hank took place 10 years ago. Cindy and I were visiting in Anacortes, Washington where Nola Gower lived at the time, when the family got the news that Hank had died suddenly in San Diego. I had the task of telling Grandma Gower -- 102 years old at time -- that her only son Hank (81 at the time) had passed away. Her response was quick but very thoughtful: "We all have that debt to pay."
- - -
Steve Shepard

A Wonderful Era, February 19, 2014

Our history begins before we are born.

We represent the hereditary influences of our race,

and our ancestors virtually live in us.

~James Nasmyth

Happy Birthday today to Hershell Gower. Originally from San Diego, Hershell and his wife Shelly have lived for several years now in Bullhead City, Arizona. Hershell is the oldest of my 12 Gower cousins, and the first of the grandchildren of Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower.

Hershell was born in the early 1940s, not long after the Shepards and the Gowers had moved from Colorado and Oklahoma to San Diego. He was the first in either of those families to be born in California. Today Hershell is mostly retired and enjoying life along the Colorado River. He tells me in an email that he, Shelly and the dogs are doing fine.

The first picture, taken in 1946, shows Hershell on the right at three years old, with his brother Jim on the left and his cousin Gary Shepard in the middle. These were the only grandchildren of Leroy and Nola Gower at the time.

The second picture, taken in San Diego about 1943, shows Hershell's mother Starlene Bass Gower on the left standing next to my mom Maida Gower, dressed in their Sunday finest.

A Wonderful Era. The early 1940s, when Hershell was born, was a very unique time in the life of both the Shepard and Gower families who had just moved to California. World War II was in full swing, these two Okie families were getting new jobs, marrying off their children, adjusting to life in a big West Coast city, and finding themselves a part of the population boom that resulted in the Baby Boomer generation.

To our great advantage today, it was also time when these families were taking lots of family pictures -- all in black and white, of course. They took pictures while cavorting at the beach, while relaxing at neighborhood parks, while visting in nearby Tijuana. (See the third picture of my dad Eugene Shepard at about 21 years old, with a friend named Johnnie Coronado, at Mission Beach about 1942.) They took pictures of new homes and new cars, new loves and new babies, pregnant women, military men, and proud grandparents. All these pictures indicate a family happy with itself and pleased with its new life in exciting California.

It was the beginning of a wonderful era in the life of our families. For the next 30+ years both families and almost all their children and grandchildren lived in San Diego, got together often, and enjoyed themselves as part of the post-war generation with it's economic prosperity and population growth. Later in the 20th century things changed and many family members either died or moved away. Today only a few of our Gower and Shepard descendants live in San Diego. But for a full generation or more our people lived in close proximity while our family life was strong and happy and full of vitality.

The final picture, also taken in San Diego in the early 1940s, shows Will and Bura Shepard on the left at a local park (Balboa Park?) with several members of their family: Thelma, Eugene (in uniform), Elmer and the only 2 Shepard grandchildren at the time, Rex and Beverly Russell. The woman on the right with her back to the camera may have been Eloise, a family friend.
- - -
Steve Shepard

Merry Christmas! December 23, 2013

There are many gifts under the Christmas tree,

but the very best is the gift of family.

Wednesday this week is not only Christmas Day, it is also the 125th anniversary of the birth of my grandfather William Shepard. For the last few blog posts I have mentioned him and included pictures about him as a way of remembering the important place he has in our family history.

Interestingly, grandfather William -- like many men of his time -- never had a life long profession, or a career that he worked at most of his life. In the census records for 1910, 20, 30 and 40 he gave his occupation as farmer. But we know he did many different things, from factory work in his early years in Illinois, to farming and railroad work in Oklahoma, to driving a gas truck in Colorado, to running a boarding home with wife Bura in San Diego, to working at Seal Laundry in his later years. 

Nevertheless, those of us who knew him remember him as a valued part of our family. He and his sister Sadie were the only Shepard children of their generation, with no cousins named Shepard. Their father William Elmer Shepard was the only Shepard child of his generation, with no cousins named Shepard. Granddad William therefore is a very unique and important linkage to our Shepard ancestry. 

The first picture is a collection of images showing 7 generations of parents and children span more than 200 years. The single picture in the second row is William. Above him are his great grandfather Edmond Owens Jr. (1795-1864) and his mother Elvira Owens Shepard (1865-1931).

Below William are his daughter Pauline Shepard Russell (1916-2000), her daughter Beverly Russell Wilk (1939-1974), her daughter Shannon Wilk (b. 1973), and her daughter Emma Beverly Jean Wilk (b. 2005). Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of William's maternal grandfather, Payton Owens (1826-1872), whose place would be between the top two pictures.)

The 4 images below William in this picture show 4 of the 53 descendants of him and Bura. Their first child Pauline was born Dec 28, 1916 -- 97 years ago this Saturday. 

I am grateful for William Shepard and all the ways that he gave of himself to his family. He will be long remembered as a good father, grandfather and great grandfather, and a very important part of our family heritage.

Family Christmas Gathering. The second picture I am including shows a gathering of a large part of the clan of Leroy and Nola Gower. It was taken at their home in San Diego on a sunny Christmas Day in 1974. This picture was taken just 2 weeks after grandpa Leroy Gower had passed away.

Standing, left to right, are Nola Shannon Gower, Starlene Bass Gower, Hershell Gower, Hendrix Gower, Al Perry, Janet Nolan Gower, Eugene Shepard, Cindy Harris Shepard, Jackie Enderle Shepard, Jason Shepard, Darrell Shepard, Gary Shepard and Kelly Shepard. In the front row are Vicki Gower Perry, Shaun and Lloyd Gower, Russell Shepard, Barbara Shepard, Maida Gower Shepard and Kerri Shepard.

May you all have a wonderful, joyful Christmas!

- - -

Steve Shepard

Happy Days from Arizona to Missouri, February 19, 2013

If we lose love and self-respect for each other,

this is how we finally die.

~Maya Angelou

Hello Family and Friends,

Hershell's Birthday. 70 years ago today my cousin Hershell Orley Gower was born here in San Diego to Hendrix and Starlene Bass Gower. Hershell is the oldest grandchild of my grandparents Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower. He was born the year after the Gowers arrived in San Diego and is therefore the first of all the Gower descendants to be born in California. Hershell's arrival began a steady stream of births of Gower grandchildren: 12 over the next 19 years.

Hershell and his wife Shelly live today in Bullhead City, Arizona. The first picture which was taken last year shows my cousin Hershell relaxing and enjoying himself in his happy place. Happy Birthday Hershell!

Happy Birthday Terry. Tomorrow is the birthday of my uncle Terry Boyd of Blue Springs, Mo. Terry and his wife Thelma Shepard Boyd moved from Gallup, New Mexico to Missouri last summer and seem to be doing well living close to their daughter Kim Boyd Clark and her family.

The second picture shows Kim and her smiling father Terry back in 1962 when Kim was less than a year old. The third picture shows Terry and Thelma last summer when in Oklahoma on their way from New Mexico to Missouri. Thanks to Dane Shepard for this picture.  

Kim: "My dad is doing okay on chemotherapy. It makes him sick for the day and a little more tired than normal. He is in good spirits and likes company and enjoys swimming at the YMCA several days a week. He likes going out to dinner. He has been eating steak and lobster since he has people to eat with. My mom just eats soup. For his birthday dinner he will probably pick Longhorn Steak House and Desiree will make him German Chocolate Cake, his favorite. My mom and dad are very happy in Missouri. They are so amazed about how friendly people are here. They live about 10 minutes from us.

"The twins at 10 months old are doing better and are getting around more and more. Isaac can get around all over the down stairs. He's under your feet before you know it. Dominic moves backwards so he never gets very far. I'm sure it won't be too long until they will be pretty mobile. Damian is enjoying school and he is playing basketball. Ciara and Ashlyn both are doing well in school and are getting ready to play soccer very soon. Jeremy will be Ashlyn's soccer team coach."

Speaking of grandchildren: Congratulations to Jerry and Cathrina Clark on the birth of another grandchild, Georgia, who was born in Amarillo. This is #4 for Cathrina to go along with Jerry's 6, making a total of 10 together. As Jerry says, "We are prolific!"
- - -
Steve

Smiling (Or Not) As the Years Go By, February 20, 2012

There is nothing in all the earth
that you and I can do for the Dead...
They do not need us,
but forever and forever more
we need them.
~President James Garfield

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you, wherever you may be, from San Diego California on this President's Day holiday.

Yesterday was the birthday of my cousin Hershell Gower, the oldest grandchild of Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower.

His parents are the late Hendrix Gower and Starlene Bass Gower. Of my 6 cousins on the Gower side of the family, Hershell is the first born. He came along during the second World War, just about a year after the first of the Gowers moved to San Diego from Oklahoma, a move that took place in 1942.

I have not been in touch with Hersh much in many years, so I was pleased to run into his son Shaun on Facebook recently and get his father's phone number. In a phone conversation with Hersh the other day, he told me that he has lived in Bullhead City, Arizona for about 3 years now. He keeps busy working a few jobs each week and enjoys the warm dry weather of Arizona and the laid back lifestyle with his wife Shelly.

The first picture (above) shows Hershell at 60 years old on the right with his father Hank Gower in the middle and his grand mother Nola Shannon Gower on the left. This picture was taken in 2003 on the occasion of Nola Gower's 100th birthday celebration in Anacortes, Washington. How often does a 60 year old have the opportunity to celebrate with their GRANDmother on her birthday?

The second picture was taken in San Diego in 1951 and shows a young Hershell on the right with his young grandmother Nola Gower. The other two in this picture are also grandchildren of Nola Gower: my brother Gary Shepard is on the left; my sister Linda Shepard is the baby in the middle.

Today, February 20, is the birthday of my uncle Terry Boyd of Gallup, New Mexico. He has been a member of our family ever since he and my aunt Thelma Shepard were married back in 1958. After a number of years living in San Diego, they moved to Gallup, New Mexico where they live today.

Thelma tells me that Terry is dealing with a number of health concerns these days, including diabetes and C.O.P.D., as well as the need for knee replacement surgery. They are going back and forth from Gallup to the V.A. in Albuquerque for his various treatments and doctor's appointments. Terry's daughter Kim Clark tells me that Terry can't walk too well so they don't get out much, but he is feeling a lot better since they got 60 lbs of fluid off of him. In other news from Kim's part of the family, she tells me that her daughter-in-law Desiree is feeling a little better. She is now 5 months pregnant with their twins, who are still doing just fine and growing as they should.

The third picture shows Terry Boyd on the right, with his daughter Kim Clark in the middle, and Kim's father-in-law Gabriel Ortiz on the left. Thanks to Kim for this picture which was taken in April, 2011.

- - -

Steve 

Remembering A 90th Anniversary, September 22, 2011

The more you celebrate your life.

the more there is in life to celebrate.

~Oprah Winfrey

Hello Family and Friends,

This coming Tuesday, September 27, marks the 90th anniversary of the wedding of my late grandparents Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower. It is an occasion to remember and to honor these two whose lives had a great impact on those of us who are descendants of theirs.

Leroy and Nola were both born in Mountain View, Arkansas at the turn of the 20th century - Leroy in 1899, and Nola in 1902. They were raised there in farming families of very modest means and then married in 1921, perhaps in the Baptist Church to which their families belonged. The first picture shows Leroy and Nola in a picture that may have been taken on their wedding day.

Mountain View was where they bore their first two children, Hendrix and Maida. Maida remembers her folks saying that in 1925, on her first birthday, the four of them left Mountain View and began their 300 mile journey by wagon from Northern Arkansas to Okemah in Eastern Oklahoma.

Oklahoma was where their third child Victoria (nee Melva) was born and where they lived for 17 years. In 1942 they followed the lead of many other Okies and moved to California. They settled in San Diego where Leroy and Hendrix found work with the Railway Express. San Diego is where Leroy and Nola spent almost all the rest of their lives, in their home on Lynne Street. San Diego is also where they are laid to rest in Greenwood Cemetery. The final few years of Nola's life (she lived to 102!) were spent in Western Washington where her daughters Maida Shepard and Vicki Johnston still live today.

Their 3 children gave them 12 grand children: Hershell and Jimmie by Hendrix; Gary, me, Linda, Darrell, Barbara and Russ by Maida; and Paula, Gloria, Michael and David by Vicki. Their descendants today also include 14 Ggrandchildren and 11 GGgrandchildren. Of their 40 descendants, born in the last 90 years, just one of their children, Hendrix, and one of their grandchildren, Linda, have passed away. The rest are scattered around the U.S., mainly in Western Washington and California, but also Arizona and Tennessee.

I honestly never remember my grandparents ever celebrating a wedding anniversary. They were of very humble and modest beginnings and were not given to celebrations like anniversaries. I was only 26 years old when my grandfather Leroy passed away in 1974 (30 years before Nola). So I did not have many occasions to be around them when their anniversaries occurred. I do know that their 50th anniversary in 1971 was a special occasion, at a very memorable time in our family's history. In my next post I will share some specifics of that event. 

The second picture from 1962 was taken at the Gower home on Lynne Street in San Diego and shows Leroy and Nola Gower on the left. Maida and Eugene Shepard are on the right with their children Russell, Darrell and Barbara. On the left in front is Starlene Bass Gower, wife of Hendrix Gower.

Cheryl Gower. I mentioned two weeks ago that Cheryl Gower, wife of Jimmie Gower of Fort Mojave, Arizona, had surgery. She wrote me recently to say that she is now home and recovering very well. Continuing best wishes to her!

Headstone Replacement. We continue to receive donations in hopes of replacing the headstones for Alexander Davis (1819-66) and his daughter Elizabeth (1844-67), in Spencer, Indiana. Select this link for all the details. Please contact me by email or contact Jerry Davis if you are able to contribute. Thanks so much.

- - -

Steve