Memories Tragic and Joyful, August 4, 2016

The song is ended but the meoldy lingers on...

~Irving Berlin

This week holds several special memories for members of our family. From the tragic to the joyful and other places in between.

Linda Shepard, 1968

Linda Shepard (1950-1971). It was 45 years ago this month that my 20 year old sister Linda Shepard died in Lubbock, Texas. She and husband Jerry Clark were students at Lubbock Christian University at the time. Her death on August 1, 1971 occurred the day after an auto accident that injured her, her husband Jerry and her sister Barbara. 

Jerry and Barbara both recovered in the months after the accident, but the scars remain for them and for all of us who knew Linda, as does the emptiness and the sense of loss. Linda's headstone in Greenwood Cemetery in San Diego is the oldest among the 15 or so Shepard and Gower family graves in that cemetery. The first picture is Linda's High School graduation picture from 1968.

Chris, Easton and Amanda Farrell

If there is anything that unites us with family members recent and long ago, it is the pain of the loss of loved ones. Whether it is the death of a young husband in 1862 or 1992, or a wife in 1971 or a dear one in the 21st century, the untimely loss of family members is a common experience that deepens our lives as humans and can, over time, bring out the best within us.

Chris and Amanda Clark Farrell. Speaking of Jerry Clark, this Saturday is a special day for one of his three daughters. August 6 is the 10th wedding anniversary of Amanda Clark Farrell and her husband Chris Farrell. They and their young son Easton live in Frisco, Texas. Happy 10th Anniversary to Chris and Amanda!

Tammy and Lloyd Gower

Happy Birthday Lloyd Gower. Monday of this week was the birthday of Lloyd Gower, the son of my cousin Hershell Gower of Bullhead City, Arizona, and one of the Great Grandchildren of Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower. Lloyd was born and raised in San Diego and lives today in San Marcos, California, a suburb of San Diego. On August 1 Lloyd celebrated his 46th birthday. Lloyd and his wife Tammy Turman Gower celebrated their 3rd anniversary earlier this year on May 7. Lloyd and his brother Sean Gower are two of only a few remaining descendants of Leroy and Nola Gower still living in the San Diego area.

Kelly, James (and Kyle) Sauvage

Happy Anniversary James and Kelly. Tomorrow is the 16th wedding anniversary of Kelly Shepard Sauvage and her husband James Sauvage. Kelly is the second daughter of my brother Gary Shepard and Jackie Enderle Perry. Born and raised in San Diego, she and James had a beautiful Church wedding here in San Diego in the summer of Y2K. (Do you remember Y2K?) They and their sons Nate and Kyle live today in Weatherford, Texas. Best wishes and Happy Anniversary to James and Kelly.
- - -
Steve Shepard

April Siblings Continue, April 23, 2016

There are two things in life for which

we are never truly prepared: twins.

~Josh Billings

"Siblings" seem to be the theme of April in this blog. The last two posts have honored siblings among us and have recognized the oldest and the youngest sibling pair among us. 

Siblings Dominic and Isaac. Today, April 23, is the 4th birthday of two more siblings who are among the younger ones among us: twins Dominic and Isaac Ortiz. They live in San Diego and are the youngest children of Desiree and Jeremy Ortiz. They are among the youngest of the Great Great Grandchildren of William and Bura Davis Shepard.

Desiree: We are all doing great here in Sunny San Diego! The twins -- aka Isaac and Dominic -- will celebrate their 4th birthday this Saturday, April 23rd. Jeremy and I definitely cannot believe that they will be 4 years old. These boys are amazing! They have come so far from the day they entered this world. 

Though they are still little for their age you would never know the struggles they had from birth. They are smart, talented and the most loving little guys ever! They are attending speech therapy and absolutely love it. They want to start school so bad but mom's not quite ready for that. This is a pic of them recently attending their brother's baseball game with Uncle Darren.

Happy Birthday and best wishes to Dominic and Isaac and their family!

Siblings Susan and Amanda. Another pair of twins in our extended family will have birthdays this month, on Monday, April 25. They are the younger daughters of Jerry Clark and Jane Clark Brock. Susan Clark Cox and Amanda Clark Farrell turn 36 on Monday. Susan lives in Lubbock, Texas, is married to Andrew, and is the mother of 3; while her twin Amanda lives in Frisco, Texas, is married to Chris, and is the mother of 8 month old Easton.

This second picture is an oldie and was taken when the Shepards and the Clarks took a vacation together in Banff, Canada back in the summer of 1987. On the left (in the pink sweatshirt) is Amanda and on the right is her twin Susan. Also pictured are Nate Shepard and the twins' older sister Becky Clark.

Happy 36th birthday on Monday to Amanda and Susan!
- - -
Steve Shepard

Something of a Genealogical Quagmire, September 2, 2015

Children are the bridge to heaven.

~ancient Persian Proverb

New Birth. Congratulations to Chris and Amanda Clark Farrell on the birth of Easton Farrell, born August 20th in Frisco, Texas. Congratulations to the first time parents, and to grandparents Jerry Clark and Jane Clark Brock of Lubbock, Texas. It is a happy time for Chris and Amanda's entire family! 

This beautiful picture of Easton with his mom and dad was posted on Facebook recently (photo credit to Natalie Roberson). Many of you have seen it, but I include it here with best wishes to Chris and Amanda!

An Anniversary from LONG Ago. Today, September 2, 2015 is the wedding anniversary of my 6X Great Grandparents Matthew Gillespie and Lucy Pickens. This couple lived so long ago in our family history you may not even recognize their names. Here are some interesting notes about this young couple.

We are related to Lucy and Matthew through Grandmother Nola Shannon Gower, in particular her father Samuel Pickens Shannon. He was given the middle name Pickens because his grandmother's maiden name was Anna Pickens. Giving a child a middle name that is the last name of a Grandmother was not uncommon years ago, and even is done occasionally today.

Lucy Pickens and Matthew Gillespie were both born in Ireland at the turn of the 18th century. We even know that Matthew's birth town was Limerick, Ireland. But they did not marry, and may not have even known each other, until they came across the Atlantic, where their families settled just north of Philadelphia. 

Something of a Genealogical Quagmire. In the new world they were part of a large clan of Irish immigrants who tended to marry within the clan. Lucy and Matthew Gillespie's son, Matthew Gillespie Jr., married back into his mother's Pickens family (probably a cousin). Then their granddaughter, Mary Q. Gillespie, also married back into the Pickens family. So if you look at our family tree you see Pickenses all over the place because of the intermarrying. It is something of a genealogical quagmire, which may be a little easier to understand by looking at the lineage at the bottom of this post.


Young Matthew and Lucy married at just 22 and 20 years old. Immigration records show that Matthew arrived from Ireland in 1722 -- the same year they married -- so he was fresh off the boat when he married fellow immigrant Lucy. It is very possible that both their families came over together in the same ship. In a new land, beginning a new family, facing new challenges; it must have been a very exciting, if not bewildering time for Matthew and Lucy to start a new life together. 

They were married in Abington, Pennsylvania, in the Abington Presbyterian Church, a congregation near Philadelphia that still exists today (here's their website). They were one of the earliest marriages of this congregation, whose history dates from 1716. The following is an excerpt from the records of the Abington Church, of Matthew and Lucy's marriage on September 2, 1722. Their last names are spelled a little differently, but after nearly 300 years, a little little discrepancy is understandable!

Matthew and Lucy were only married 8 years when Matthew died at just 28 years old. Lucy then outlived him by over 30 years, living to be 60 years old, which was very old by 18th century standards. In the 8 years of their marriage they had 3 sons and a daughter, son Matthew Jr. being the one from whom we are descended. Two years after Matthew died, Lucy remarried a man named John Kerr, and lived the rest of her life with him.

Here then is an 11 generation lineage which shows how we are descended from 6X Great Grandparents Matthew and Lucy Gillespie, whose wedding, long, long ago, we remember today.

• Matthew Gillespie (1700-1728) who married Lucy Pickens (1702-1762)
• son Matthew Gillespie Jr. (1726-1793) who married Anna Pickens (1726-1775)
• daughter Mary Q. Gillespie (1756-1789) who married Andrew Pickens (1753-1844)
• daughter Anna Pickens (1785-1867) who married David McKnight Shannon (1790-1860)
• son David Reid Shannon (1821-1864) who married Peggy Gray (1829-1899)
• son Samuel Pickens Shannon (1858-1930) who married Finetta Dearien (1861-1960)
• daughter Nola Shannon (1903-2004) who married Leroy Gower (1899-1974)
• daughter Maida Gower (b. 1924) who married Eugene Shepard (1921-2003)
• son Steve Shepard (b. 1948) who married Cindy Harris (b. 1948)
• son Nathan Shepard (b. 1977) who married Chenda Sou (b. 1980)
• daughter Preslea Maida Shepard (b. 2010)

- - -
Steve Shepard

Never Before Seen Photos, August 5, 2015

There are no rules

for good photographs,

there are only good photographs.

~Ansel Adams

Celebrating 9 Years of Marriage! Happy Anniversary today to Chris and Amanda Farrell. Amanda is one of the daughters of Jerry Clark and Jane Clark Brock of Lubbock, Texas. 

Chris and Amanda, who live today in the Dallas, Texas area, were married 9 years ago in Texas. The first picture shows Chris and Amanda with Amanda's Dad Jerry Clark, in a picture taken earlier this year.

Never Before Seen Photos. In this post I would like to continue a theme that I began a few weeks ago. And that is sharing photos that you have never seen before, at least not in this venue. You may never have seen the picture above, but that is simply because it was taken recently. I am talking about family pictures that may be a few years old -- or many years old --  that have never appeared in The Shepard's Crook, which has been including pictures in nearly 500 posts, over the last 8 years now.

I have chosen not to share some pictures simply because of the poor quality. Here is one such example, an image probably from the early 1940s, possibly earlier. It is a photo of my Dad Eugene Shepard taking a "selfie", with him holding the camera. It was taken some 75 years ago! The term "selfie" has only been around a few years.

These days pictures of oneself are common, with countless numbers of them appearing in social media daily. But in the first half of the 20th century? I dare you to find a family selfie older than this one. No, really. If you can find one older than this, I will gladly post it for all to see.

This selfie that Dad took is actually not that bad, considering how long ago it was taken, and the limitations of most popular cameras back in the 1940s. The plants behind Dad in this picture are in focus, even if Dad is not. 

Speaking of selfies, click here to see an attempt at a selfie that went terribly wrong! It happened just last week when my granddaughter and I were learning to use a "selfie stick".

Here is one more image that I have never shared before in this blog. Since Jerry Clark appears in the first picture above with his daughter Amanda, it only makes sense to include another picture of him, this one of a very handsome young Jerry, taken 45 years ago. 

It was taken in the San Diego home on Lynne St., of my Grandparents Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower. The picture is dated July, 1970, the month before his marriage to my sister Linda Shepard. The reason I have never shown this picture before should be obvious: one should use the utmost discretion when making public the picture of a family member sitting on the toilet.
- - -
Steve Shepard

Twin Twins, April 23, 2015

Let gratitude be the pillow

upon which you kneel

to say your nightly prayer.

And let faith be the bridge you build

to overcome evil and welcome good.

~Maya Angelou

Isaac and Dominic. Today is the birthday of twins Isaac and Dominic Ortiz of San Diego. They are two of the sons of Jeremy and Desiree Ortiz, and were born three years ago in Blue Springs, Missouri. Their grandmother is Kim Clark and their Great Grandmother is Thelma Shepard Boyd of Blue Springs, Missouri. Isaac and Dominic are 2 of the 15 Great Great Grandchildren of William and Bura Davis Shepard, who are mentioned below.

Desiree: "The boys will be celebrating their 3rd birthday this Thursday! I can't believe that my little guys will be three. My last babies have grown so quickly. Though they have been struggling with a condition that causes them to vomit often, they are doing well. They have come so far from when they were born. They are such a blessing! They bring happiness to my days with their fun personalities! They are such sweet loving boys!! I can't imagine my life without them!"

Amanda and Susan. Saturday, April 25, is the 35th birthday of another set of twins in our extended family, Amanda Clark Farrell and Susan Clark Cox. They are two of the daughters of Jerry Clark of Lubbock, Texas and Jane Clark Brock, also of Lubbock. Amanda is married to Chris Farrell and lives in Frisco, Texas, while Susan is married to Andrew Cox and lives in Lubbock. Best wishes and happy birthday to Susan and Amanda!

The picture above shows Susan Clark Cox with husband Andrew, and Amanda Clark Farrell with husband Chris.

One Century Ago. 6 weeks from now, June 2, 2015 will be the 100th Anniversary of the wedding of my grandparents William Shepard and Bura Davis Shepard. It will be an important occasion worth celebrating and I invite all of you to participate. Ideally we should get together in person somewhere and honor their memory, but since we are so scattered that seems unlikely. Instead -- since this is the digital age -- I invite you to be a part of an online Wedding Anniversary Celebration.

I have set up a page on The Shepard's Crook with information about that day 100 years ago and provide you with the opportunity to visit that page and share your memories and reflections in honor of them. Over the next 6 weeks I will add information and resources and interactive opportunities as we remember Will and Bura Davis Shepard on the 100th Anniversary of their wedding.

In coming weeks...

• I will put together a photo presentation highlighting images of them and their family over the last century.
• I will provide an audio recording from 1975 of William telling about the events surrounding their Oklahoma wedding in 1915.
• I will offer a list of links to various blog posts where I have discussed them, their wedding, and other events and people of a century ago.
• On that page you will have the opportunity to add comments and share your thoughts, memories, and reflections, and read the comments of others.

I invite you to visit the Shepard Anniversary page now by selecting this link, but remember to check back in coming weeks as more will be added to it as we move toward their actual wedding anniversary on June 2. Join me in marking this important 100th Anniversary Celebration!
- - -
Steve Shepard

"Curiosity Never Killed This Cat", August 8, 2014

Curiosity never killed this cat.

~Studs Terkel

Hello family and friends and greetings to all of you from San Diego. A spirit of curiosity is essential in the effort to research family, hence the witty quote at the top of this page by the late Studs Terkel. At his request these words are found on his headstone. 

In my last post I shared some pictures of important family gatherings in diverse places, celebrating family events. This post will reflect that same thing with another picture of people gathered for an important family celebration, as well as some other celebrations, along with an historic 6 generation picture spread.

First of all though, I want to offer congratulations to two couples whose anniversaries were in the last few days.  Chris and Amanda Clark Farrell (Amanda is the daughter of Jerry Clark and Jane Clark Brock) were married August 6, 2006 and celebrated 8 years of marriage on Wednesday.

My niece Kelly Shepard Sauvage and her husband James were married August 5, 2000 and celebrated 14 years of marriage on Tuesday. Congratulations and best wishes to both couples!

Happy Birthday Heather. This Sunday, August 10, is the birthday of Heather Robson Cotten, daughter of Paula Tuzzolino and granddaughter of Vicki Gower Johnston. Heather, one of the 14 great grandchildren of Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower, lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband Sean and daughters Victoria and Alexandria. This weekend, however, Heather is in Oak Harbor, Washington where she was raised and where she graduated from High School. She is visiting her mom Paula and her grandmother Vicki. 

The picture above, taken earlier this summer, shows Heather with her daughters Lexi and Tori. The image below is a 6 generation family picture. Not often in my family records can I find pictures like this which span six consecutive generations and over 150 years.  

The following is a list of the names and dates of those pictured:

• Victoria Cotten (b. 2007)
• Heather Robson Cotten (b. 1976)
• Paula Harrell Tuzzolino (b. 1951)
• Vicki Gower Johnston (b. 1933)
• Nola Shannon Gower (1903-2004)
• Finetta Dearien Shannon (1861-1960)

The genealogical note for this particular post concerns Finetta Dearien, the oldest person in the picture spread above. Her mother was Roena Norton, a young woman, possibly a teen, who became pregnant with Finetta by her step father Augustus Dearien. Finetta's embarassing birth lead to the disappearance of her young mother Roena sometime after 1861 when Finetta was born. What happened to Finetta's mother Roena is a mystery that may never be solved. But the search continues. Especially for those of us with the curious spirit of Studs Terkel. 

Happy Birthday Jeremy. This coming Tuesday, August 12, is the birthday of Jeremy Ortiz, one of the 21 great grandchildren of William and Bura Davis Shepard. Originally from Gallup, New Mexico, Jeremy spent many years in San Diego, but lives today in Blue Springs, Missouri where he is a manager of Pizza Hut. 

The picture above shows Jeremy (on the left in the blue cap) with his family. Far left is his grandmother Thelma Shepard Boyd; far right is his mother Kim Boyd Clark in front of her husband Jeff Clark. To the right of Jeremy is his wife Desiree, his San Diego cousin Kori Boyd, his brother-in-law Justin Davis, and his sister Amanda. Also in this picture are Jeremy and Desiree's 5 children: twins Dominic and Isaac, Ciara, Damian and Ashlyn. This family picture was taken last weekend at a restaurant in North Kansas City, Missouri.
- - -
Steve Shepard

Twins, Twins! April 24, 2012

Twice the joy, twice the love
twice the blessing from above.

Hello family and friends!

Greetings to all of you from our mountain house in Northern California where Cindy and I find ourselves in this beautiful April day. Here in the Sierra the last snows of winter are melting away and the colors of spring are arriving with a beautiful vengeance.

New Twins! Congratulations to Jeremy and Desiree Ortiz (and grandma Kim Boyd Clark and husband Jeff) of Blue Springs, Missouri who are the proud parents of twin boys. Kim: "We have 2 more grandsons: Isaac Gabriel (3 lbs; 15 inches long) and Dominic Manuel (3.5 lbs; 15 1/2 inches long.) Both middle names are from their grandpas. Isaac is getting a blood transfusion right now. He has a low red cell count."

The first picture shows the smaller of the twin boys, Isaac, holding dad Jeremy's finger. Grandma Kim asks for prayers for the little guys, especially Isaac, and says, "Overall they are looking good."

Speaking of Twins. Wednesday is the birthday of two other twins in our larger family: Susan Clark Cox and Amanda Clark Farrell who were born the 25th of April, 32 years ago. Susan and husband Andrew live in Lubbock, Texas with their two children (and are expecting their 3rd in June!). Amanda and husband Chris live in the Dallas area. Susan and Amanda are daughters of Jerry Clark and Jane Clark Brock, both of Lubbock, Texas.

Amanda: "All is well here at the Farrell house in Texas! How did we get to be in our 30's already? Chris and I purchased our first home in January! We tackled home ownership and a remodel all in the same process - but it turned out to be worthwhile! Home ownership is a lot of work but also a lot of fun! The attached picture was taken in our backyard - the roses are still blooming!

"Workwise we are both staying very busy! In all the busyness it seems this birthday caught me off guard - how is it already April!? We don't have big birthday plans, just dinner at my favorite sushi restaurant with a few close friends and maybe another simple family dinner during the week. In May we will be taking a week of vacation to Puerto Rico so I will count that as my birthday celebration, Puerto Rican style!"

Best wishes to these Texas birthday girls and the family of the new Missouri birthday boys!

- - -
Steve

Happy Easter Tomorrow! April 7, 2012

The resurrection gives my life meaning
and direction and the opportunity to start over
no matter what my circumstances.
~Robert Flatt

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you yet a third time on this week of Easter. Please bear with me. I promise that this amount of clutter in your email inbox will not happen on a regular basis.

Happy Easter Day tomorrow to everyone! May it be a wonderful day of family gatherings, a celebration of spring, and a time to remember the meaning of Jesus' resurrection.

The first picture I am including today was taken Easter Sunday, 2006 in the Murphys Hotel in Murphys, California. It shows me on the left, next to our son Nathan, with Jerry Clark on the right. In front is Jerry's daughter Amanda Clark Farrell with Cindy on the right. At the time of this photo we were living at our mountain house and I was the minister of a church in the town of Murphys. Jerry and Amanda were visiting us from Texas for the special weekend. 

Happy Anniversary! This blog post is also coming to you today in celebration of the wedding anniversary of Jerry and Cathrina Helms Clark of Lubbock, Texas. Tomorrow it will be 6 years to the day since Jerry and Cat were married in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Congratulations to them and best wishes for many more happy years together.

The second picture I am including today shows Jerry and Cathrina in a pose befitting their anniversary. It was taken last summer when the four of us were vacationing in Italy. Behind this happy couple are the ancient ruins of Ostia Antica outside Rome.
- - -
Steve

Cloud of Witnesses, April 25, 2011

Since we are surrounded

by such a great cloud of witnesses,

let us run with perseverance

the race set before us.

~Paul the Apostle

Hello Family and Friends,

Happy Birthday on this Easter Monday to Amanda Clark Farrell and Susan Clark Cox, twin daughters of Jane Brock and Jerry Clark of Lubbock, Texas. The first picture shows Susan on the left and Amanda on the right right with dad Jerry in the middle.

I once tried to explain that Amanda and Susan are my late sister's first husband's and his second wife's second and third (or possibly third and second) children. But people started throwing things at me when I said that. So I'll just say that they are long time family friends. They were born and raised in Lubbock, Texas, where Susan and husband Andrew, with their children, still live. Amanda and Chris live in Fort Worth.

Susan: 31 is definitely easier than my transition into 30. At my ripe old age, I have discovered a few things. I get all wrapped up in birthdays. I love everything about birthdays the phone calls, the cards, the meals. But mostly I just like spending time with the people that mean so much to me. I hope they feel as blessed by my friendship as I do by theirs. And that includes my family. I am truly grateful for where God continues to place me and for the relationships he has allowed me to participate in. What a blessing each day is!

Amanda: Things here in North Texas are wonderful! We're both staying busy with work and enjoying every second! Chris recently joined the staff at Fellowship of the Metroplex in Mansfield! My work in the cubicle world continues to be fun and challenging! I love what I do and the people I do it with! Our new location allows us to split the commute from my job to the church. We are getting to know a new area of the DFW metroplex. We leave on May 18th for a week with friends in Belgium and are hoping to make a trip to Mexico in the fall. The last year has been one of transitions but God has continued to be faithful and has blessed us with a new place to further his Kingdom! The past two birthdays have flown by at a crazy pace - I keep reminding myself to soak it all in!

Cloud of Witnesses. This is also a week to remember the birthdays of 3 other wonderful people in our family whose memories will always hold a special place in the hearts of many of us. These three are, for me, among those who will forever be part of  "the great cloud of witnesses" who surround us and inspire our living. Ironically, the last born of these three died first, and the first born of these three died last.

The last born was my cousin Beverly Russell Wilk, daughter of Bill and Pauline Shepard Russell, and mother of Shannon Wilk of Atchison, Kansas. She was born April 27, 1939 in Two Buttes, Colorado. She died in a San Diego hospital in December of 1974 at the tender age of 35. Click here to see a picture of Bev with her daughter, mother and grandmother.

My grandmother Nola Shannon Gower was born in Mountain View, Arkansas April 28, 1902 or 03 (depending on which historical record you're reading). The oldest person I ever knew, she died in Anacortes, Washington in the summer of 2004 at the tender age of 101 (or 102). See second picture of her and husband Leroy taken in 1972.

My father Eugene Shepard was also born on April 28 (18 years after his mother-in-law Nola), but in Logan, Oklahoma in 1921. He died 8 years ago in Anacortes. Wednesday of this week marks the 90th anniversary of his birth. The second picture shows 33 year old Eugene, with 5 year old me, on what appears to be Easter Sunday, 1954, in front of our home on Ulric Street in San Diego.

- - -

Steve

Family Vacations

 Without a family,

man, alone in the world,

trembles with the cold.

~Andre Maurois

Hello Shepard Family and Friends,

Greetings from San Diego on this fine day in August. A while back I invited any of you to send me a picture of your family vacation. I received two pictures recently in response.

The Rockin' Shepards of Skagit County

Family Vacation Pictures. In my blog two weeks ago I referred to Barbara Shepard's birthday. The family picture on the right was taken during Barbara's subsequent birthday trip, which included a stop in Seattle at the Experience Music Project. In the picture is Barbara, having some fun with her brother Russ (in the blue jeans) and her nephew Steven (on the drums). They are recording some music, in the style of a 70s Rock Band. Unfortunately (or fortunately) there is no sound track with this image.

The Clark Family at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Jerry Clark sent me a picture of his family's summer vacation last month. It was a trip to celebrate a 60th and two 30th birthdays. In this second picture, from left to right, is Jerry and Cathrina Clark, Andrew and Susan (Clark) Cox, and Chris and Amanda (Clark) Farrell. (click on the picture for a larger view) Two of the beauties in this picture turned 30 this year and were celebrating that milestone in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. No, the beauty on the far left was not one of them. Amanda, on the far right, and her twin Susan, third from the left, are the new 30 year olds. Jerry was celebrating a somewhat older milestone.

ShepDawg

Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing. My brother Darrell Shepard, a talented guitar player, has a brand new blog that you may be interested in viewing. It's called "Shepdawg's Guitar Corner." One of the ways it can be accessed is from right here, TheShepardsCrook.com. On the right side of this page, there is a list of "Blogs and sites of Family and Friends." Darrell's link in at the top of that list. Check it out.

Speaking of the real thing, today is a day of remembering the father of my wife Cindy, Joe Harris, who died in 1999. When it came to being a husband, father, grandfather and father-in-law, he was the real thing. Today would have been his 88th birthday. He was a wonderful man who is fondly remembered.
- - -
Steve

April 26: Safeguarding Motherhood

God gave us memories 

that we might have roses 

in December.  

~J.M. Barrie

Hello Shepard Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you on this week of remembering some special loved ones. Tomorrow would have been the 71st birthday of Beverly Russell, had she not suffered a fatal brain aneurysm in 1974.

Bev's daughter Shannon Wilk lives in Atchison, Kansas with her young daughter Emma. The first picture shows Shannon in the arms of her mother Beverly in late 1973. Next to Bev is Shannon's grandmother Pauline (Shepard) Russell and her Ggrandmother Bura (Davis) Shepard. 

Shannon wrote me recently: Emma is doing great. Growing like a weed. She will be starting kindergarten this year. She is getting to be a computer nerd. Plays on it at school and at (papa) Frank's. Can't get her off the thing! 

I remember my mother's birthday every year, though I usually remember it quietly to myself. I try to tell Emma everything I can about grandma, but having no memory of her is hard. Uncle Rex and Aunt Margie kept the picture of mom for me - the one above grandad's TV. It has now been above Emma's bed since the day she came home. Emma and I get a kick out of how much we both look like her.

Does anyone have any memories of my mother they would like to share with me and Emma? I would be most grateful. Did she like to dance? Emma and I dance all the time. We love music and Emma gets her little booty just-a-shaking! What was her favorite color? Favorite food? Did she like sports, etc.?

Sometimes it's hard to feel whole when half of me I do not know. But what I do have of my mom and what I do know, I keep a part of our lives. My father as well. Emma was only two when my dad passed in 2007. But she knows grandpa Phil, and points him out in all the pictures. We were out at the lake one day and a butterfly was following us - seriously - and Emma said that it was grandpa Phil, that he wanted to walk with us. The things children say...

I encourage those who have memories of Bev to share them with Shannon and Emma. Please email me if you need her email address.

Other April Memories. This Wednesday would have been the 89th birthday of my father Eugene Shepard, who passed away in the summer of 2003. Wednesday also happens to be the birthday of my maternal grandmother Nola Gower who died in 2004 at 102. They are both gone but are still remembered fondly.

The picture above was taken at the home of Gary and Cindy Shepard in Ramona, California in 1997 and shows Nola Gower on the left, next to Eugene and Maida (Gower) Shepard.

Birthday wishes to Susan Clark Cox and Amanda Clark Farrell, twin daughters of Jerry Clark and Jane Clark Brock. Susan and Amanda both turned 30 yesterday! Happy birthday to both of them!

The third picture, taken back in 1991, shows Susan and Amanda. These days Susan is in cahoots with dad Jerry in their business in Lubbock, Texas, and Amanda lives with husband Chris Farrell in Frisco -- not the one in Northern California, but the one in north Texas.

Safeguarding Motherhood. On Easter Sunday I posted a picture of Kelly and James Sauvage and their two boys (see the picture). I said that the boys were wearing Pittsburgh Steeler jerseys. Kelly insisted that I set the record straight: "The two boys and I are wearing Charger jerseys. James is the only one in a Steelers jersey. I mean come on... what kind of mother do you think I am?!"

Later this week I'll give the answer to last week's trivia question. (How many GGGGGGGG grandparents do each of us have?) It's not too late to make your guess.
- - -
Steve

April 8, 2010: Happy Anniversary Jerry and Cathrina

The value of the family

is not that adults produce children,

but that children produce adults. 

-Peter de Vries

Hello Shepard Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you from the unusually warm city of San Francisco, where the weather turned from drizzly, cold, west coast winter to sunny springtime overnight. Our sojourn in the City by the Bay with the new parents of our beautiful grandchild Preslea Maida will end later today when we return home to San Diego.

Happy anniversary to Jerry and Cathrina (Helms) Clark of Lubbock, Texas who were married 4 years ago today. Jerry emailed me recently with the following.

"We are very busy (at work) with the end of the school year. 4 years has gone quick -- of course at my advanced age all the years do!

We are heading back to NYC with Cat's parents in June and then to Myrtle Beach with Sue, Drew, Amanda and Chris in late July celebrating my 60th and Sue and Amanda's 30th birthdays.

Cathrina is busy with selling cotton and driving her fancy, used, red race car (as my grandson Drew calls it). All 7 of our grandkids are great. Becky is expecting another and that will make 8 total."

The first picture (above) shows the happy couple Cathrina and Jerry in a recent picture. The second picture I am including shows Jerry and two other women in his life: Maida Shepard on the left, and Amanda, one of his 3 daughters, on the right.  Maida lives in Anacortes, Washington where this picture was taken in the fall of 2005, and Amanda lives in Frisco, Texas with husband Chris Farrell.

If you have been paying even a little attention to this blog for the last 2+ years, you know that Friday has been my day of choice to post messages. But that has changed recently, as you may have noticed. I will continue to post at least once a week, but the particular day of the week will probably vary. I hope this does not upset anyone's routine too much. ;-) 

- - -

Steve

Shepard Family Update, February 8

Dear Family members,

Hello from Lubbock, Texas, where Cindy and I are celebrating our 40th class reunion at Lubbock Christian University! We are enjoying the Texas hospitality of Jerry Clark and his wife Cathrina (see picture) and look forward to some time with long-time family friend Jane Brock and her husband Joe. We are also seeing school mates of years past -- all of whom, for some strange reason, have aged tremendously! ;-)

Fascinating Family Fact: Speaking of old... Did you know? Our oldest known Shepard ancestor, William Shepard (1835-1862), had a son, William Elmer Shepard (1862-1915), who was born in Wabash, Indiana during the Civil war, a few months before his father died. Because of his father's untimely death, the two of them probably never met.

William Elmer Shepard left home as a young man -- an old family tradition says he was estranged from his Indiana family for the rest of his life because of animosity with his step father. He settled in the St Louis area (Alton, Illinois) and married Elvira Owens. They had two children, a daughter, Sadie Shepard, and a son, William Shepard (1888-1976), who they named after his father AND grandfather. As a young man THIS William Shepard moved to the panhandle of Oklahoma (the land of opportunity at that time), married Bura Davis in 1915, and was the father of Pauline, Elmer, Eugene and Thelma. He was also a grandfather fondly remembered by a number of us (see picture).

I have no information on any of our Shepard ancestors before the William Shepard who was born in 1835 in Ohio. Do any of you have the interest and know-how to research our family history? We need one or more people who would be willing to give it some time and energy, in particular to discover our Shepard ancestors before 1835. And this is just the Shepard line. There is a whole other family tree belonging to Bura Davis (Shepard), that all us descendants can call ours.

Family Faces. I am including two family pictures. The first one shows Bura and William Shepard in 1975 (the year before he died), and includes 8 of their 10 grandchildren at the time. On the back row are grandchildren Barbara Shepard, Darrell Shepard, Joan Shepard and Gary Shepard; on the front row are grandchildren Darren Boyd, Dane Shepard and Kim Boyd; grandchild Russell Shepard is down in front. The picture also includes Gary's wife (at the time) Jackie, and their 3 children, Kelly, Kerri and Jason (Bura and William's great-grandchildren).

1975 was an eventful year for the Shepard family. This picture was taken at Gary and Jackie's home in Mira Mesa on the occasion of Maida and Eugene's 30th wedding anniversary. The following month William and Bura celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Two months before this picture was taken Rex and Margie Russell were married in a small family ceremony near Lake Jennings. Thanksgiving 1975 was a snowy event at Bill and Pauline Russell's cabin in Idylwild, Ca, remembered by many of us who were there. All of this came on the heels of the unfortunate deaths of Beverly Russell and Maida Shepard's father, Leroy Gower, within days of each other in December, 1974.

The other picture is Thanksgiving dinner 2007 and shows Cindy and me on the left, our son Nathan William Shepard on the right, with Jerry and Cathrina Clark next to Nathan. Next to me is Amanda (Clark) Farrell (Jerry's daughter) and her husband Chris, both Texans who now live in Hawthorne, New Jersey.

Family News. I received word this past week from Dane Shepard in Oklahoma City who says that his dad Elmer "has moved up near us into assisted living. His phone # is 405-376-0160 and his mailing address is ours: 8211 Shadow Lake Drive, Blanchard, OK 73010. We appreciate the family e-mail. Dad enjoys hearing about the family." (Elmer is the oldest living member of our Shepard family and will be 90 years old in May.)

As a follow up to my email a few weeks ago about family members who served in the military in wartime, Dane also writes, "My mother, Beryl (Swinney), was an ensign in the Navy Nurse Corp in WWII, stationed at Balboa Park, San Diego, from 1944-1945." ...Thanks so much, Dane, for sharing this information.

Remember: You are invited! Shepard Family Reunion, Saturday, July 19, 2008, Anacortes, Washington. Come for the day or the whole weekend! Find out where Anacortes, Washington is.
- - -
Steve Shepard