Mr. William G. “ Bill” Shepard

Mr. William Grant Shepard was born on March 6, 1952 in Jacksonville, Florida, and passed away Friday, February 24, 2023. He grew up in Frostproof, Florida, where he was an Eagle Scout and played multiple sports, including being a center and punter for the Frostproof Bulldogs high school football team. Bill graduated from the University of Florida in 1978 with a degree in Animal Science/Dairy Science. He was a passionate Florida Gators football fan. A third-generation dairy farmer, he moved to Collinsville, Alabama, in 1982 to begin his own dairy business, Lookout Mountain Dairy. Bill spent the last two decades as a real estate agent, licensed broker, and auctioneer.

An avid outdoorsman, Bill enjoyed hunting, fishing, beekeeping, wildlife, and was a true steward of the land. As an expert turkey hunter, he enjoyed mentoring local youth in the sport he loved. He was a long-time member of the National Wild Turkey Federation, as well as a founding member of both the Cherokee county and Gadsden chapters of NWTF. He was a former president of the NE Alabama NWTF. He loved the town of Collinsville. Bill was a member of the Collinsville Booster Club for many years and an active member of the Collinsville Methodist Church. He loved playing with his grandchildren, and spending time watching sports, cooking, grilling, or just being with his wife, daughters, and many friends.

Bill was a loving husband, father, Paw Paw, and friend, and he will be greatly missed by all who knew him. He celebrated fifty years of marriage to his high school sweetheart and love of his life, Beverly Fort Shepard, on May 6, 2022.

He is survived by his wife, Beverly Fort Shepard, his daughters, Dr. Elizabeth Brooke Shepard Orr (Lance), Dr. Pamela Shepard Schagren (Danny), his sister Donna Perkins, and his five grandchildren, Joshua, Eliza Kate and Shepard Orr, and Noelle and Evan Schagren. He is preceded in death by his parents Joy Rucks Shepard and William Lafayette Shepard of Frostproof, Florida.
The family extends much appreciation and admiration to the nursing staff and physicians at Riverview Medical Center in Gadsden, Alabama.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, March 4, 2023 at 2:00 p.m.at Hancock Funeral Home in Fort Meade, Florida. A memorial service will be held at the First Methodist Church of Collinsville on Saturday March 25, 2023 at 2:00 pm. Donations may be made in honor of the life of William Shepard to the First Methodist Church of Collinsville, and the JAKES Program or Northeast Alabama Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation.

Hancock Funeral Home, Fort Meade, FL 33841