Arleen Shepard

Arleen Joyce Shepard was born in Pontiac, Illinois, to Arthur and Alta Fahsbender, the second child, and only daughter, of three children. Arleen’s father was an auto mechanic, and her mother was a schoolteacher who had grown up in a large family on a farm just outside of town where Arleen spent many childhood summers. During the height of the Great Depression, Arleen’s family temporarily relocated to Long Beach, California, where her father was able to find work. Arleen was an excellent student and graduated from Pontiac High School in 1944. That summer, she worked as a bookkeeper for a Pontiac clothing merchant who also was a mentor and father-figure to a local Pontiac boy, Jack Shepard. Little did Arleen know that this boy, who was across the world in the WWII Pacific Theater and whose photo sat on her boss’s desk where she worked daily, would be the man she would marry two years later. In 1947, Jack and Arleen left Pontiac and ventured west by car to settle in Albany, Oregon. In 1944,as Jack was flying from Walla Walla, Washington, to California on his way to Okinawa Japan, he saw the beautiful mid-Willamette Valley and knew it was the place he wanted to live if he survived the war. The move was a good one as both had jobson their second day in town, and they found a cute “little house on Willetta Street” to rent. In the early‘50’s, they bought property in North Albany and built a modest home on Green Acres Lane. Their two children, John and Lisa, were born a few years later, and in the early ‘60’s, they bought property across Springhill Road on Cherry Lane and built another house where they stayed until 1979. Jack’s dream was to have more space and an orchard, so they bought a newly built house on almost two acres on Palestine Hill, farther out in North Albany, where they lived together happily and productively until Jack died in 2006 of pancreatic cancer. Arleen lived therefor 10 more years before relocating to North Pointe in North Albany where she had hoped to live one day in retirement. Arleen and Jack were true partners. They both worked full time, and they both took care of their children and homes. After daughter Lisa started first grade, Arleen went back to work at a downtown Albany bank. Her big smile and cheerful, friendly demeanor made for a perfect fit as a bank teller. When her boss refused to grant her the vacation time she requested for a family trip back to Illinois, she simply resigned and made the trip. Shortly thereafter, she became the Benefits Administrator at Teledyne Wah Chang Albany where she was well liked and appreciated for two decades until her retirement in 1988. After retirement, Arleen enjoyed babysitting her grandchildren in Corvallis a couple of afternoons a week during their preschool years. Arleen had a keen, and sometimes dry, sense of humor and an infectious laugh. She was competitive and loved playing Rummy 500 and Hand & Foot card games. She liked watching sports on TV and rarely missed a Portland Trailblazers game. Arleen particularly enjoyed baking with the bounty from Jack’s fruit orchard, and she freely shared the bounty with others. Arleen and Jack loved and cared for many pets over the years, most notably, Airedales, Marnie and Max; Max the Cat; and kittens, Tom and Jerry. Arleen was active in the Albany Business Women’s Association (ABWA) and the Altrusa Club of Albany in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s. She was very creative, artistic, and had a good eye for interior design. She took acrylic and watercolor classes over the years and appreciated and supported local artists and potters. Arleen’s big love outside of family and home was bowling. She bowled Albany leagues for 50 years starting in the late ‘60’s. In the spring of 2018, Arleen had to give up bowling, driving, and her independence after fracturing her dominant arm in a fall. In 2019 she moved to assisted living, most of those years at Timberhill Place in Corvallis where she received excellent care and made many friends. In October2022, she fell and fractured a hip, which confined her to a wheelchair most of the time. Arleen approached her final years with the same determination and optimism she displayed throughout her life. Arleen is survived by her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren: Son, John Shepard, and wife Chris, Eugene, OR; daughter, Lisa Shepard, Corvallis, OR; granddaughter, Navit Berman, and husband Daniel, Eugene, OR; grandson, Lev Parker, Sebastopol, CA; great-granddaughter, Liora Berman, and great-grandson, Tavi Berman, Eugene, OR. Burial will take place on Sunday, October 27, at1:00 p.m. at Southside Cemetery in Pontiac, Illinois, where Arleen’s urn will join Jack’s in Jack’s mother’s family plot and near Arleen’s parents’ and younger brother’s graves.

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Arleen Shepard

October 27, 1926 - October 7, 2024