Faith Ann Shephard
1946-2022
Our beloved wife, mother, and grandmother, Faith Ann Shephard, 75, of Guthrie, passed from her earthly life into eternal life with her Savior on August 8, 2022.
Faith was born on December 11, 1946, in Kankakee, Illinois to Harold and Arvilla (Elsey) Jones. Faith Ann was the oldest of eight children and primarily lived in Mayville, Michigan during her childhood. In 1964, she graduated from Mayville High School. While she was a junior there, she met the love of her life for almost 60 years, Robert (Bob) Shephard, and they married a few months after her graduation in 1965. Together they had four children and 13 grandchildren.
Throughout her life, Faith was a woman who had a deep love for God and His people. She spent much of her life faithfully serving Him as a Nazarene minister’s wife. Together with her husband, she served the people of Enid First Church of the Nazarene in Enid, OK as an Associate Pastor’s wife and then later as the Senior Pastor’s wife. She also ministered to their parishioners at Nazarene churches in Piedmont, OK; Tucson, AZ; Albuquerque, NM; and Marshall, MO. As a minister’s wife, Faith took on many roles. In some churches, she was the secretary, in others she was the director of women’s ministries, but in all places she had a special ministry to the widows in her churches. Every year, she held a Valentine’s tea to honor those women and spend time with them. She loved every one of them, made sure they knew it, and they loved her back with fierce loyalty. Faith lived her beliefs by loving those around her.
In addition to serving people in her churches, Faith was also a dedicated nurse and spent her career caring for patients in a variety of fields. In 1981, she became a registered nurse through Yavapai College in Prescott, AZ and earned a certification in OB-GYN nursing in 1993. Later in 1997, she earned her BSN from UCO in Edmond and graduated with the highest honors in the college. She worked as an RN for the State Health Department in Enid, OK; for an OB-GYN clinic in Tucson, AZ; Presbertyrian OB-GYN offices in Albuquerque, NM; Oklahoma State University in Tulsa, OK; and the Pain & Sleep Institute in Edmond, OK. In addition to being a diligent and caring nurse, she also kept the conversations lively around the dinner table by telling her husband and their four children colorful nursing stories.
Some of Faith’s hobbies included pronouncing words backwards, shopping, sight-seeing, birdwatching, praying, reading and canning. Faith could say any word backwards and often made people laugh by doing so. One of her favorites was ippississiM. Almost every Thanksgiving, she could be found Black Friday shopping with one or all of her daughters and occasionally she even convinced her husband to join her. Faith loved a bargain but more than that, she loved the time spent with her family. She loved sight-seeing and deer-watching with her loving husband. Together they also spent time birdwatching. Her backyard has many birdhouses and feeders where she watched and cared for her feathered-friends. She often laughed at the “Hummingbird Wars” taking place on her patio. While the birds brought her joy, Faith’s true joy came from her relationship with Christ and she could often be found reading her Bible and praying. When Faith said she would pray, she did. She spent many hours faithfully praying for her husband, children, grandchildren and her parishioners. She loved to read her Bible and almost any book she could find. Her bookshelves would make a librarian proud. Faith also spent her spare time canning. She made the best relish, jams, lime pickles and sweet hot jalapenos. Often at holidays, a grandchild would point out one of her jars of goodies and she would open it immediately and later would be sure to send jars home with family. Faith made a mean white lightning dip with her sweet hot jalapenos which was often requested at gatherings. She also possessed the uncanny ability to tell which color an M&M was just by taste.
Faith Ann is survived by her husband, Robert, and their four children Sharri and her husband Bruce Mackey of Edmond, OK; Jeffrey and his wife Beverly Shephard of Siloam Springs, AR; Shelli and her husband Bruce Whittecar of The Woodlands, TX; and Tami and her husband Edward Mostrom of Broken Arrow, OK. She also has 13 incredible grandchildren that she was so very proud of: Andrew and his wife Amber Blakeman, Matthew Blakeman, Michael and his wife Shanna Shephard, Christopher Shephard, Colton Whittecar, Nicholas Shephard, Mackenzi Mostrom, Carleigh Ann Whittecar, Alexa Faith Mostrom, Mary Faith Shephard, Kolby Mostrom, Elizabeth Shephard, and Rachel Shephard. She is preceded in death by her loyal and much adored miniature schnauzer, Annie, whom she often referred to as her fifth child. Faith was well-loved and loved her people well. She will be missed greatly and will be remembered always in our hearts. She passed on a legacy of faith in God, prayer, laughter, and love for people that her family will carry on in her honor.
In lieu of the flowers, donations can be made to Tessa’s Landing, 2344 NW 196th St, Edmond, OK 73012, https://www.facebook.com/tessa.gregg.94, to help care for other dementia patients.
Services will be held on Saturday, August 13, 2022 at 1:30pm at Matthews Funeral Home in Edmond with visitation preceding the services at 1pm and interment to follow at Arcadia IOOF Cemetery in Arcadia, OK.
We will be live streaming this service in an effort to accommodate those people that wish to attend but feel they should not due to health regulations. To watch the service CLICK HERE to go to our YouTube page. Click on ‘Videos’, then ‘Live Streams’.