Jessica Marie Shepard

Jessica Marie Shepard passed away Wednesday, September 5, after a long and courageous battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was born May 20, 1929 in Brisbane Australia. She was the youngest of nine children. She met John Henry Shepard, Jr., a native of Santa Barbara County, in 1950 while he was in Australia introducing new varieties of avocado bud wood to her brother-in-law. In 1952 they were married in Brisbane and returned to Carpinteria.

In 1974 she became the librarian at Main Elementary School in Carpinteria. Her dedication to the children was a reflection of her love for life. She would open the library early, help children with their studies and stay late in order to provide a safe place for those who had nowhere to go.

After retiring she enjoyed life being a grandmother to her three granddaughters. She was an avid gardener and loved to spend hours tending her flowers. A favorite pastime of hers was a long walk on the beach looking for shells and listening to the ocean. One of the humorous parts of her life was the neighborhood pets that would regularly come to visit her on their own accord, sometimes overstaying their welcome to the point where she would have to walk them home.

Her husband John Henry Shepard, Jr. passed away in 1987 after 35 years of marriage. She is survived by her two daughter’s Nola Shepard Stucky and Allison Shepard Van Wingerden, their husbands, Carl Stucky and Walter Van Wingerden, and her three granddaughters, Erika, Portia and Talia Van Wingerden.

The family would like to thank Bonnie Haave and Maria Dye, Beatrice Ramos and Obdulia Teran of Haave House, and Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association for their unconditional love and care to Jessica.
The family asks those wishing to remember Jessica, to please donate, in lieu of flowers, to the Carpinteria Valley Museum of History or Livingston Memorial VNA.

A memorial service will be held on September 19th at 11 am at All-Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church.