Jane Turner Sheppard's Obituary
Services to celebrate the life of Jane Turner Sheppard, 56, will be 11:00 AM, Saturday, October 28, 2006, at the First United Methodist Church, Longview, Texas, and 10:30 AM, Tuesday, October 31, 2006, at the First United Methodist Church, 1106 4th St., Rosenberg, Texas, 77471. She will be buried at Memory Park in Longview, Texas, next to her parents. Ms. Sheppard died on Wednesday, October 25, 2006, in Houston, Texas, after a courageous battle with cancer.
?Janie,? as she is known in her hometown, was born January 28, 1950, in Longview, Texas, the only child of Bailey and Jane Turner Sheppard, who preceded her in death.
The day the Sheppards brought her home from the hospital, they also employed Carrie Brown to be her nanny. Carrie remained her most faithful caregiver for as long as she was able and was her prayer warrior until the end. Jane grew up in Longview, where she was born to a pioneer family, and was baptized in the First United Methodist Church, a fourth generation member of that congregation.
Jane was always one of the most beautiful, popular, and intelligent girls in school. In 1968, she graduated from Longview High School as salutatorian of her class. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Texas at Austin, where she received her BA in Spanish and English in 1972 and was a member of the Pi Phi sorority. She received her Masters of professional Accounting from UT in 1975. She was employed by Exxon in Houston from 1975-1980 and attended law school at night. She earned her Doctorate of Jursiprudence from the University of Houston in 1980 and worked for Cooper Industries from 1980-1981. She enjoyed a successful career practicing family law as a partner in the firm of Whitmore, Sheppard and Pollicoff and was highly respected in the legal community for her expertise in family law.
Always ready for an adventure and never afraid of hard work, she gave up her practice in 1991 to pursue other interests. She raised a variety of animals on her Happy J Farm in Beasley, Texas, and started a business growing and selling organic foods. She raised and showed angora rabbits, spun their hair, and knitted beautiful clothes with their fiber.
Eventually, she devoted her time to raising and showing llamas.
Jane was a brilliant woman with many and various talents. When she settled in Beasley, she became active at the First United Methodist Church of Rosenberg where she taught a Spanish-speaking Sunday School class and gave countless hours volunteering at Shade Tree Food Ministry. Jane held membership in many organizations including the Junior
League of Houston, Knit at Night Guild, Fiber Artists of Houston, Contemporary Handweavers of Houston, State Bar of Texas, State Board of Public Accountancy, and numerous livestock organizations. Jane was full of love for all of God?s creatures and treated everyone the same, with kindness. Hers was a life of loving service to others,
and she will be greatly missed by a host of loving friends, including many of the four-legged variety, and several cousins.
Honorary pallbearers will be Beckie Fuller, Mary Sue Rabe, Linda O?Brien, Joanie Moncrief, Betsy Gerber, Terri Van Slyke, JoAnn Lewis, Sarah Deitch, Mary Hollomon, Cindi Rabia, Denise Winter, Cameron Vann, Susan Myres, and Louise Fielder.
Memorials may be made to Shade Tree Food Ministry, c/o Bob Wright, 313 Lane Dr., Apt 122, Rosenberg, Texas, 77471, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, P. O. Box 4486, Houston, Texas, 77210-4486, or a charity of choice.
What’s your fondest memory of Jane?
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