FRANKLIN - Robert Mitchell Shepherd, 81, passed away Monday, Nov. 2, 2020.
Born in Macon County, he was the son of the late Perry Soloman Shepherd and Lola Mae Messer Shepherd. In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by a sister, Minnie Talley and a brother, John Shepherd.
Robert proudly served his country in the U.S. Army, stationed in the Panama Canal Zone during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Upon his discharge from the service, he was awarded a “Letter of Commendation”, commending him for his outstanding performance of duty, for accomplishing any assigned task with a maximum degree of efficiency and always being the first to volunteer for a task. His supervisors had nothing but praise for his performance and stated it was a pleasure to have an individual with that caliber serving under him and would welcome the opportunity again.
He was a Supervisor with General Motors before his retirement. Robert was a member of Liberty Baptist Church, the American Legion and the VFW. He enjoyed NASCAR and hanging out with the other Shepherd men at the fruit stand.
Robert is survived by his loving wife, Judith King Shepherd; daughter, Dori Coakley of Tiger, Georgia; step-children, Bob King, of Franklin, Mike King, of Omaha, Nebraska, Randy King, of Texas; siblings, Roger Shepherd, of Candler, Kenneth Shepherd, Raymond Shepherd, Ray Shepherd, Steve Shepherd, all of Franklin, Betty Tallent, of Greenville, South Carolina and Jan Yonce, of Murphy, North Carolina; twelve grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral services were held at 2 p.m, Friday, Nov. 6 in the chapel of Macon Funeral Home. Rev. Andy Cloer, Rev. Steve Reeves, Rev. Davis Hooper, Rev. Wesley Hooper officiated and Randy King spoke. Burial followed in the Shepherd Cemetery. The family received friends one hour prior to the service.
Pallbearers were Trevor Mason, Blake King, Bobby King, Josh King, Ken Shepherd and Mike Shepherd. Honorary pallbearers will be Darrell Carter, David Yonce, Jerry Jennings, Harold Barrett, Paul Shuler, R.V. Shields, Bob King, Mike King, Randy King, Landy Pendergrass, Bruce Giles, Chandler Bryant, Don Brown, Charlie Dowdle, and Mitchell Owenby.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Shepherd Cemetery C/O Josephine Jennings, PO Box 781, Franklin, NC 28744 and the American Cancer Society, www.cancer.org.
Macon Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.
Condolences may be made at maconfuneralhome.com