Macler Shepard is being remembered as a visionary that helped save a historic, but decaying neighborhood – one that is now undergoing a startling revitalization.
Shepard a stalwart of fair housing and community activist died last Friday (Oct. 21, 2005) at Delmar Gardens North Nursing Home. He was 88.
Shepard was the founder and chairman of Jeff-Vander-Lou Inc., a non-profit organization established to rehabilitate housing on the city’s North Side.
Born in Marvell, Ark. He moved to St. Louis as a young man.
He attended Vashon High School and graduated from Peabody School in Helena, where his father lived.
A veteran of the U.S. Army, he was among the few black engineers that served during World War II.
One of his crowning achievements was the Brown Shoe Co. opening a plant in partnership with Jeff-Vander-Lou Inc. in 1970. It reached a high of 275 people employees, with, most coming from the predominantly black north side. The plant operated for five years.
In 1974, Shepard was co-recipient of the prestigious St. Louis Award. He received the Black Citizens Award from the Collective Effort Improvement Association in 1977 and in 1979, he received the Rockefeller Public Service Award for revitalizing communities and neighborhoods.
He served on committees, including the board of commissioners for the Bi-State Development Agency.
He was married to Jessie Jean Shepard who proceeded him in death in 1999.
Visitation is from 2 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Ronald L. Jones Funeral Chapels, 2161 East Fair Avenue, St. Louis. A funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Prince of Peace Missionary Baptist Church, 2741 Dayton Street. Burial will be at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.
Survivors include a brother, Dave Shepard, and sister, Orelia Woodson, both of California.
Memorials may be made to the Macler Shepard Fund, 2801 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, St. Louis, Mo. 63106.