"Mildred, you should go and get your suitcase packed because we'll be leaving early in the morning to head north to be with our family for Christmas."
"What do you mean? I have a Sinawik meeting to attend tomorrow, clothes to wash, and letters to write," exclaimed Mildred.
"Now, Mildred, you know you want to be in Akron for Christmas. Forget about your duties here in Florida for now. Focus on getting yourself ready for our trip."
My father-in-law seemed to get a certain amount of joy out of surprising his wife, and other people, too. I believe that he enjoyed getting a rise out of people. His sons and daughter in Akron wouldn't know that Bob and Mildred would be appearing on their doorsteps in a day or two either. But, Bob loved his family and didn't want to miss out on any of the big holiday times with them. So, yes, Mildred would pack her bag and be ready in the early morning, just as Bob knew she would.
On the day my husband was born, Bob wrote on a card to his mother-in-law this message: "Robert, Jr. weighs 15 pounds and was born with his overalls on!" The poor woman gasped when she read this and nearly fainted.
Here's one more example of Bob's surprises that I always laugh about: On a hot July day, the Shepard family was out shopping together when Bob suddenly picked up a folding lawn chair and kept walking. The chair had been leaning in front of the storefront that they were passing. Mildred and the children were aghast. "You can't just steal that chair, Dad!"
"Well, we need a chair for the back yard, don't we?" Bob asked.
"Yes, I suppose so. But it's against the law to steal."
"Never mind. This is a dandy chair and I intend to keep it and that's that." And Bob walked on with the chair but the kids and Mildred hung back, not wanting to walk with their robbing relative. Bob put the chair in the trunk of the car and waited for his reluctant family to catch up. When they got to the car, he explained that he had bought the chair while they were in the supermarket and asked the dealer to put the chair out front for him to pick up.
It's fun for me to tell you these stories and it gives a good view of Robert's personality. Now, for the more serious facts about his life:
Robert was born in 1896 in Hicksville, Defiance County, Ohio. His family moved to Shelby, Richland, Ohio in the early 1900s. In high school, at age 14, he was the tallest guy on the Shelby Whippets football team. He was 6 foot and 4 inches tall.
In August 1917, Bob became a Forest Guard - like his older brother Ward, who Bob admired greatly - at the Grand Canyon. But when World War I started, Bob immediately enlisted for service at Fort Bliss in Texas in October 1917. He received his training at the Army Camp in Belvoir, Virginia. By January 1918 he was sent to Vichy, France and remained there until the 2nd of October in 1919. He was injured in the knee by a log that jumped the track while he and other members of his troop were busy building a bridge, I think. This knee bothered him ever after but didn't hamper his walking abilities until he was in his late 70s. Robert received his honorable discharge at Fort Dix in New Jersey on the 7th of October 1919.
Robert gave me a personal surprise, posthumously, when I discovered his handwriting on a number of census pages. Shortly after his return to Shelby, Robert was a census taker, for the 1920 Federal census, in the neighboring Madison Township. The handwriting is tidy and beautiful. Any family historian would enjoy and appreciate reading these neat census pages.
A friend of Bob's, who lived in Detroit, Michigan told Bob about his fiance who worked for the telephone company in Detroit. Bob asked, "Does your gal have a nice friend who works at the phone company?" The friend said, "Why don't you come here and find out for yourself?" So that's what Bob did. Pretty Mildred Stewart was that "nice friend" and they married in Yale, St. Claire County, Michigan where Midlred's family lived, on the 29th of April 1922. Bob brought her home to Shelby to meet all of his family. They were all amazed at Mildred's beauty and her fancy town clothes.
Then, Mildred and Bob settled into home life in South Akron and Bob worked as a salesman for Ferbstein's Cigars. They had one son, Frederick, and a daughter, Milla, in the early years of their marriage. In 1925, Bob began his career at the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company starting as a tire inspector, later as a rubber worker, as calendar man at the rubber shop, and various other jobs until lastly working at the steel products plant until his retirement in 1954.
Bob had a bad heart attack in the fall of 1954. It was in late November 1954 that Bob and Mildred and their younger son, Robert, who was born in 1933, moved to West Hollywood, Florida for Bob's retirement years. Bob and Mildred had a good life there, where Bob got fascinated with raising honey bees. He was invited to talk to school students about his hobby a few times, and enjoyed that experience. He also liked to share, and sometimes sell, his special honey. Bob, Jr., however went back to Akron, Ohio, in fall 1955, and later moved to Oregon.In the late 1970s, Bob acquired some other serious health problems that needed attention. So, Robert, the younger son, flew to Florida in 1975 and brought his dad back to Oregon to live and get the health care that he needed. It was nice to have him near us where we could take him to music concerts, outings at the beach, picnics, and to celebrate his 80th birthday and a few holidays. Sadly, he died about a year later in July 1976. He was buried at the lovely grounds at the Veteran's Hospital Cemetery in Roseburg, Douglas County, Oregon.
ROBERT SHEPARD
BORN: 1 May 1896 in Hicksville, Defiance, OH
MARRIED: 29 Apr 1922 in Yale, St. Claire, MI
DIED: 16 Jul 1976 in Bandon, Coos, OR
BURIED: Veterans Cemetery in Rosebur, Douglas, OR
SOURCES: Many interviews with Mildred Shepard, Robert C. Shepard, and Bob's cousin, Delight Schirmer. Ward Shepard's photo album; Mildred's scrapbooks; Death, marriage and honorable discharge certificates; US Federal censuses of 1900-1940. My personal memories of my father-in-law.
