Search Results

SHEPARD -- Charles R. S. Shepard, a retired educator who lived in Albuquerque from 1990 to 2007, died January 23, 2010 in Davis, CA, from complications of Parkinson's disease. Mr. Shepard was 82. He had lived in Davis for three years. From 1964 to 1969, Mr. Shepard served as headmaster of a private, kindergarten through 12th-grade school in Hamden, CT, outside New Haven. He also served as founding headmaster of Phoenix (AZ) Country Day School in 1961-62 and taught English earlier at schools in Houston, TX, and Watertown, CT. The turbulent sixties prompted Mr. Shepard to turn his attention from private education to the struggling public-school system of New Haven, CT. He taught at a public high school in New Haven from 1969 until his retirement in 1981. During those years he served as coordinator for the high school's new freshman-year program, which made innovative use of clusters of teachers to improve the freshman experience. Those years, he wrote later, were "a transforming and life-altering experience." Mr. Shepard, known to his friends as Chuck, grew up in Neenah, WI. There he acquired a lifelong love of the outdoors and with it the roots of his spirituality. He served in the Army during the European occupation and attended Yale College, graduating in 1951. As a senior, Mr. Shepard was president of Dwight Hall, now also known as Yale's Center for Public Service and Social Justice. Mr. Shepard returned to Yale to earn a master's degree in English in 1954 and, 30 years later, a master's degree in divinity. Mr. Shepard and his wife, Derry Ann Moritz, who married in 1981, moved to Albuquerque, NM, in 1990. They were drawn by the history, spirituality and multicultural life of the Southwest. In Albuquerque, Mr. Shepard was an active member of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church. In addition to Ms. Moritz, Mr. Shepard is survived by three children from his first marriage, Timothy C. Shepard of New York, NY, Charles E. Shepard of Reno, NV, and Carrie Shepard of Davis, CA; by a stepson, Thomas Osenton of Chicago, IL; by six grandchildren; by his brother, Donald C. Shepard Jr. of Neenah, WI; and by his first wife, Mary Jo Shepard of Hamden, CT. Contributions in Mr. Shepard's memory may be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, AL. Memorial services will be held in Albuquerque in about one month and in New Haven in mid-May. Additional information is available at /memorialwebsites.legacy.com/ChuckShepard .
        Published on: Tue January 26, 2010