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08/27/2009 - Margaret Shepard
Memorial Services for Margaret Shepard, formerly of Chadron will be Thursday, August 27, 2009 at 11:30 AM at the Greenwood Cemetery with Dr. Russ Seger officiating.
Margaret Permelia Shepard was born October 29, 1910 in Fortescue, Missouri, to George and Myrtle (Driskell) Hopper. She was the youngest of five children; an older brother died and an older sister was still born. She and her two sisters Bernice and Irene grew up on a farm near Fortescue in Northwestern Missouri, and she had many happy memories growing up there. She graduated from high school in 1927 at age 16, attended Central College in Missouri for two years, taught school for three years, and then graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1933. She attended graduate school at the University of Nebraska, and completed all the course work toward a Masters degree in Geography.
She continued teaching school until 1938, when she married George Ashton (“Ash”) Shepard on June 9. They met when she moved to Crawford, Nebraska to teach and he was working as a construction engineer for the Nebraska Highway Department. During their early years of marriage, they lived in many small towns in western Nebraska, following the highway construction projects. They considered it the height of luxury when they were able to buy a small trailer home and live in it rather than renting apartments (this was before the days of mobile home parks).
They had two children, Beverly and Jon. In 1956 they settled in Chadron, where Beverly and Jon graduated from high school. While there Margaret completed training for bookkeeping and worked as bookkeeper at the Chadron Hospital. She later completed certification for medical records librarian, and created the medical records department at the hospital. In 2961 Ashton died, leaving her a widow at age 50 with Jon in seventh grade and Beverly a freshman in college. With courage and dedication she completed raising her children, supporting them both through their undergraduate college years.
In 1968, she and her sister Bernice, also a widow, moved to Marysville, Kansas, where they shared a house and where Margaret headed the Medical Records Department in the Marysville Hospital. She retired from the hospital at age 65, but continued consulting with nursing homes in the area till age 75. When Bernice developed dementia, Margaret became her devoted caregiver until Bernice’s death in 1991.
At age 81 she moved to Minneapolis to be closer to Beverly. Although she was very sad to leave her many friends in Marysville, she adjusted to life in the city. An avid bridge player, she was in two bridge groups and a member of Edgewater Baptist Church. She was also a long-time member of Eastern Star, earning a 50-year membership pin.
When she became unable to care for herself, she moved to an assisted living apartment and later entered Jones-Harrison Residence, where she lived for one year and 10 months.
She died peacefully on October 15, 2007, leaving her children and their spouses, two grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and nieces and nephews.
Chamberlain Chapel of Chadron is in charge of arrangements.
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