I attended two final “good byes” on January 15, 2026. One was for a man I did not know and had never met, Robert E. “Bob” Crane II, who died as a result of a deliberate, senseless act perpetrated by a neighbor. His nephew, Jonathan Crane, grew up in the neighborhood with our sons and they, along with my husband and I, have remained very close to him and his wife and daughter even though they now live in Florida. By all accounts, Mr. Crane was a caring, loving husband, father, brother, uncle and friend. One of his sisters, in her remarks, commented on how well thought of he was by the entire neighborhood, not only those who lived on his street but by neighbors on the surrounding streets as well, and how he had married his wife twice—which drew a chuckle from all of us, including his wife! And yet, one has to wonder about man’s cruelty to his fellow man.
And then there was “Shep”. I never knew Shep’s given name was John H. Shepard Jr. until I attended his “Celebration of Life: The Final Play.” I just knew him as Shep. He always led with that big, genuine, contagious smile. He never tried to force himself on you and he never made himself nor his accomplishments the center of conversation.

In fact, my memory of Shep is that he didn’t even talk about himself nor his accomplishments except for one time and that was this past November when we were all together at an event and he mentioned to my husband and me that he was being inducted into the Springfield Public High Schools Sports Hall of Fame. He didn’t go into detail. But he was obviously very excited and proud of receiving that honor and wanted to share his joy with us. He had that same big smile as he talked. We congratulated him and I remember thinking to myself that we should put that in the paper and then the conversation moved on to another topic. Still, I should have asked him more questions then. I should have followed up. I didn’t and that was my loss as that was the last time that I saw him.
Shep was always at family gatherings with our daughter-in-law, Denise’s father, Gerald (Jerry) Rosemond. I just thought he and Shep were good friends, which they were, but at his Celebration of Life, I discovered he was good friends with the entire Rosemond family and they considered him a member of their family. I also learned that Shep had been a colleague and a mentor at Putnam to my other daughter-in-law, Lisa, where they both worked. But that is only the beginning of what I learned that day about Shep.
But let me start by saying that St. John’s Congregational Church, where the Celebration of Life for Shep was held (and indeed it was a Celebration!), has a seating capacity of 850 people, and it was full! That, in and of itself, should tell you a lot about the man.
Shep, as he was affectionately called by everyone, was born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx. He moved to Springfield in 1971 and graduated from Putnam High School in 1977 with a vocational degree in Printing. He departed this life at the age of  67 at his home on Christmas day.
It was when he moved to Springfield that he became lifelong friends with the entire Rosemond family and was like another son and brother to them. Daryl, the comedian of the family, gave reflections on behalf of Jerry Rosemond, Dave Smith, Joey Rosemond, Alvin Rosemond, Tommy Rosemond and himself. He said something along the lines of (I’m paraphrasing): “I always knew him as “Shep” and that’s what I always called him. One day when he was working at Putnam, we were both at Dunkin’ Donuts before school and he was dressed in a suit and was carrying a briefcase and I said, ‘Hey, Shep!’ And he said, ‘It’s John to you.’ And off he went to be about business.”
There was so much more to him that I never got to know and learned belatedly from his Obituary and from the others who spoke at “Coach Shep’s Last Game.” 
“After high school, John attended Maine Central Institute, which is a college prep school. He had a full basketball scholarship and was the starting point guard. After graduating, John received another full basketball scholarship to the University of Lowell, majoring in Electrical Engineering and was a member of the National Society of Black Engineers. At ULowell, during a basketball game, John met his loving wife Sheila Ann (Douglas) Shepard. 
Together John and Sheila had 6 children, Darius, Telea, Daylan, Darnell, Shantayvia and Shaterria. John joined the U.S Army and was in the 82nd Airborne Division. He was stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina for 10 years. He was a Paratrooper, loved jumping out of planes, served as a Military Police and was an Army Veteran of the Gulf War. After completing his military service, John moved back home to Springfield, MA with his family. 
John worked at the US Post Office, volunteered at Springfield Boys Club on Carew Street and then he found his purpose as a teacher and coach at Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical High School now known as Putnam Vocational Technical Academy. John worked as a substitute teacher and was permanently assigned at Putnam for over 18 years. John’s passion was being a math teacher; however, he enjoyed working in other shops and teaching other subjects as needed. At Putnam, John also coached the boys’ basketball team, the boys’ and girls’ track team and the girls’ cross country team. He became known as “Coach Shep” as his passion for coaching was far beyond a mere job, it was his purpose. Coach Shep found his calling as he was genuinely invested in helping his students develop skills, achieve goals and overcome challenges. Coach Shep saw the potential in every child and would encourage them to join the track, cross country and basketball teams. In November of 2025, Coach Shep was inducted into the Springfield Public Schools Sports Hall of Fame for coaching as he won 23 championships across multiple sports which was an honor of a lifetime. 
John was a devoted family man, who loved to cook (he made the best fried chicken), loved watching his grandkids, playing cards, playing the lotto every day and he even won big a few times. John loved going to the casino, having a good time and hanging with his friends especially the Rosemonds. John had a big smile and an even bigger heart. His laugh was infectious; he was funny and would tell the best jokes. John loved coaching, teaching, driving large vans, the Dallas Cowboys, the NY Knicks and dogs, especially German Shepherds. John was a jack of all trades as he could fix just about anything from cars to household appliances to flooring to doing his daughters hair and giving haircuts. You could call John at any time for anything and he would help you out. John loved people, he would hold conversations with strangers and basically everybody that Shepard met was his friend.”

—Obituary
Many “Heartfelt Expressions” for Shep were acknowledged. Here are just a few:
● ““Shep” was the best! We first met back in college at ULowell when I was just a freshman playing pickup at Costello Gymnasium. I could go on and on about stories. John Shepard just had a zest for life I will never forget! I have a deep regret I did not get to see him as often as I should over the years. My ask of all reading this is that in honor of “Shep” is to find time to visit more with those that had great meaning in your life as you never know when you won’t have that chance again. I’m sure “Shep” is up in heaven going right on God’s basketball court against all the ballers in heaven with the same smile you see in the photos. America needs more “Sheps”! Until we play again. RIP MY FRIEND!”

– John Paganetti

● “RIP COACH SHEP!! Very few people believed in me in high school on the court. He told me if you are going to be any good with being this small, you have to be smarter and work harder than anyone else. So, you are going to join the cross country team and the rest was history…love you coach.”
– Jaleel Dewberry

● “Coach Shepard was an amazing soul that loved teaching and coaching at PUTNAM. I will miss his contagious laughter…but most of all how he took the time to teach our students by making math fun. He will be missed.”
– Mari Mercado

● “This man radiated unshakable joy and would push you to your potential always.” – Lily Nwafor

● “Had a good 4 years of running cross country with you as my coach. You always made me laugh and made sure I had a bus token to get home. You will truly be missed.” – Riece Rozay

● “Rest easy Coach. I’ll never forget that you told me that me and my twin reminded you of your twins. True coach who really believed in me.”
–Eboog Johnson

● “Even though I was always on the opposing team, he’d always give me my props no matter what! RIP”
– Monet Ako-Brew

In addition to the love and pride Shep had for his family, his colleagues, his students and his friends, I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that being inducted into the Springfield Public High Schools Sports Hall of Fame was one of the honors of his life. ■