William Mckinley Shepard – Colonel, United States Army, Great-Newphew Of President William McKinely

From a contemporary press report

Wiliam M. Shepard of Naples, Florida, and Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, died February 17, 1997.

He was 80 years old. He is survived by his wife, Louise, whom he married in May, 1942, and a daughter and son-in-law, Kathy and Anthony O’Neill of Ft. Myers, Florida; a son, Tom Shepard of Pullman, Washington; four grandchildren and one great-grandson. He is also survived by two sisters-in-law, Janet Botts of Durham, North Carolina and Margaret Sell of Bismarck, North Dakota. He was the son of the late Pardon Ballou and Colleen Esther (McKinley) Shepard. He was also preceded in death by his brother, James Richard Shepard.

Colonel Shepard was born in Broken Bow, Nebraska on November 25, 1916 and moved to Southern California in 1928. He graduated from Hoover High School in 1934 and then attended UCLA. Colonel Shepard entered active duty in 1940, serving in the US Army at Fort MacArthur, California, and retired in 1967 after 27 years of service. During his career, he had been stationed in several locations throughout the United States and abroad, including Japan and Fort Kobe, Panama Canal Zone.

He worked as a Consulting Electrical Engineer in the Washington, D.C. area for 20 years and was employed with Philco Ford, Auerbach Corp. and Calculon. Colonel Shepard had lived in Herndon, Virginia for 33 years before moving to Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. He was a life member of the International Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Charter President of the Optimist Club, past Town Councilman, past Scoutmaster and neighborhood Chairman of the Boys Scouts, all in Herndon, Virginia.

Colonel Shepard was the great-nephew of the late President of the United States, William McKinley.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Friday, February 28 at the Ft. Myer Chapel of Arlington National Cemetery. Interment will follow with full military honors. Contributions may be made in his memory to the Optimist Club, PO Box 33, Herndon, Virginia 20172.

SHEPARD, WILLIAM MCKINLEY

• COL   US ARMY
• WORLD WAR II, KOREA
• DATE OF BIRTH: 11/25/1916
• DATE OF DEATH: 02/17/1997
• BURIED AT: SECTION 60  SITE 6055
  ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard