- Date Of Birth: January 25, 1932
- Date Of Death: October 15, 2015
- State: Michigan
John David Sheppard Passed away Thursday, October 15, 2015 at the age of 83. He was born January 25, 1932 in Springfield, MO to the late Donald and Helen (St. John) Sheppard. John was married to his best friend and girlfriend, Margaret, on August 16, 1958. He grew up in Springfield and Columbia, Missouri where he developed his love of photography, education, and tinkering with things.
After graduating from Hickman High School in Columbia in 1950, he enrolled in the University of Missouri where he was awarded his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (1954), Master of Arts in Accounting (1958), and Doctor of Philosophy (1970). John’s love of accounting led him to a career in higher education starting at University of Missouri in 1957, Ohio University, and culminating as an Associate Professor of Accountancy at Western Michigan University, Haworth College of Business where he retired in 1990 after 25 years.
As an undergraduate at University of Missouri, John was part of the US Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps and served on active duty from 1954 to 1957. He transitioned to the US Air Force Reserve in 1957 and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1984. John held a number of posts in a variety of Accounting-related professional and academic organizations in the southwest Michigan area as well as supporting many church, scouting and swimming organizations where his children were active.
Never one to sit still, John enjoyed, building things, appraising properties with Appraisal Associates, visiting and traveling with his children around the world, taking his grandchildren to numerous minor and major league baseball parks, and chasing Western’s Solar Sunseeker team.
John is survived by his wife and girlfriend, Margaret; children, Deborah (Stephen) Shepherd, Brian (Kelly), W. Eric (Nancy) and Laura (Tammy); grandchildren, Adria, Matthew (Halle), Benjamin, Alicia (Jason), Ian, Devlin, Gabrielle, Jordan, and Riley; great-grandchildren, Sloane, Lily, and Zoey, brothers-in-law Claude Harris and John (Mary) Kennedy, as well as many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his sisters, Betsy Wilhite and Mary Margaret Acker and sister-in-law Betty Harris.
