William Newton Shepard

William (Bill) Newton Shepard, 81, of Fruitland Park, Fla., husband of Allene (Evans) Shepard, died February 3 at his home.

In addition to his wife his wife of 44 years, survivors include a brother, Charles Edward Shepard, Sr, of Sandy Hook, and two sisters, Evelyn Cole of Mesa, Ariz., and Lorraine Hill of D’Iberville, Miss. An older brother, Leonard R. Shepard of Chicopee, Mass., died in 1989. Fifteen nieces and nephews and their families also survive.

Mr Shepard, a direct descendant of the earliest settlers of Newtown, was born in New Haven on January 2, 1923. He was the son of Leonard A. Shepard and Jane M. (Kelly) Shepard. He grew up in Newtown, graduated with the 1940 class of Hawley High School, and attended the University of Connecticut. He was employed over the years by Morris & Shepard General Store (later Knapp and Trull), by the Newtown Cleaners, the Newtown Post Office, and the Newtown Savings Bank, from which he retired in 1981.

He lost the sight in his right eye at the age of 5 but was an expert rifleman, bowler, and golfer.

Drafted into the US Army in 1942, he was in training as a medical corpsman at the University of Maine in January of 1944. When a fire destroyed his dormitory, the Army housed the survivors in a troop train. They were taken to Tennessee and attached to the Yankee Division of the 29th Infantry, which was preparing for the invasion of Europe. He landed on the Normandy beachhead on D-day plus one, fighting as a PFC lead scout until captured in November 1944. Released from the POW camp in late April of 1945, he arrived home in May 1945.

Contributions in his memory may be made to World War II Veterans Committee, PO Box 96543, Washington DC 20090-6543.

The Newtown Bee       February 13, 2004