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Family and friends remember Ray
For those who knew him best, Ray Shepherd had made a big impact on a small community.
"He was a fine man," Shepherd's son, David, said Thursday, just a few days after his father died at the age of 89. "He tried to do what was best."
David, now the president of Shepherd Team Auto Plaza, said his father, a local business leader who started Ray Shepherd Motors in 1952, was a man who spent a great deal of his time being involved in the community, being active in several area groups and organizations, and helping to grow his business to what it is today.
"When we moved here, there were 13 other car dealerships," he said. "Dad got involved in the community with civic clubs and the chamber of commerce. He did all the things a good business person would do to contribute in the community. And like so many community leaders in small communities, when they find that you're willing to work willingly for important causes, you are asked to keep doing things and being a leader. He was very good about stepping up and giving his time and energy for those kinds of things."
Ray Shepherd's involvement in the community include a past stint as president of Fort Scott Industries, past chairman of the Bourbon County United Way, serving as a board member of Fort Scott Mercy Hospital, and two terms as a Kansas State Highway Commissioner, the latter of which David Shepherd said his dad particularly enjoyed because of the opportunity it gave him to contribute to the progression of area highways.
"He enjoyed his time on the state highway commission," David said.
According to retired businessman Bob Crain, Shepherd's work as a Kansas State Highway Commissioner helped with the creation of the U.S. Highway 69 bypass which runs through Fort Scott.
"Ray was a big influence in the highway development," Crain said. "He was the highway commissioner, and he helped us get the bypass in. He had good connections and he helped us (Fort Scott) out a lot."
Local businessman Tex Crutcher, of Citizens Bank, NA, said not only was Shepherd highly involved with the highway construction in the local area, but he also immersed himself in the community in many ways.
"He's been a community leader in this community ever since he came here," Crutcher said. "I have a hard time saying enough about him because I don't know anything community oriented he has not been involved in."
Crain said Shepherd's community involvement was influential in helping the local area progress into what it is today as he sponsored everything from ball games to charity events.
"He was an active person in Republican politics when he was younger," Crain said. "He was one of those who helped move the community to the road it is on today. He took an interest in building the community."
David Shepherd added that Ray was "very active in his church as a deacon, elder, trustee, and chairman of the board" and was a "faithful Rotarian."
Reed Hartford, pastor of the First Christian Church where Shepherd was a member, said through the years Shepherd tirelessly worked as a leader in the local congregation.
"Ray Shepherd was a man of deep and abiding faith," Hartford said. "He has been an active and vital member of this congregation since he and Mary arrived in Fort Scott. He has served the church in many capacities ... Ray willingly shared his talents and skill to enhance the ministry of the church. The hospitality for which he was well known for around the dealership was also very evident here at the church. Ray was a faithful member and teacher of the Builder's Sunday School Class."
From the time he began working in the car business in 1931 through the growth of the Shepherd Team Auto Plaza over the decades, Ray Shepherd lived and worked by a simple motto, David said.
"He worked very, very hard to develop a lot of business," he said. "His foundation was pretty simple; as a businessman, you treat people the way you'd want to be treated."
According to Crain, Shepherd was a dedicated businessman who was rated as one of the top auto dealers in the country in the early 1980s.
"Ray was always dressed in a coat and tie and suit when he was in the shop," Crain said. "He believed he should look like a businessman if he was going to be one. He was one of those people who was a builder. He built a business from nothing."
David said there were times he and his father didn't agree on the operation of the business, but their mutual respect for each other was evident.
"He understood how important it was to slowly but surely release control and responsibility," he said. "He knew that nobody has all the answers. We didn't always see eye to eye on things. He hated computers. His generation did because they didn't understand them, and I saw the importance of them. But we always respected each other."
Shepherd and his wife, Mary, purchased a dealership in Ash Grove, Mo., near Springfield, Mo., and later moved to Fort Scott to start Ray Shepherd Motors in 1952 after turning down a chance to own a large dealership in Kansas City. Ray Shepherd Motors grew and the first building that is one of many buildings to make up what is now the Shepherd Team Auto Plaza was built in 1967. David and his wife, Sharon, later moved to Fort Scott from McPherson, Kan., and David began working with his dad in 1971 after growing up in the family business.
Ray Shepherd lived a long, productive life, even though his health had worsened in recent years and he had suffered from Alzheimer's disease, David said.
"I think if he knew the way he was going to go out, which was a miserable and terrible way, he would still say that he had a wonderful life and was truly blessed," he said.
Not only was Shepherd fortunate to have lived such a successful life, but according to Crutcher, local residents were privileged to have such an upstanding citizen help grow the community through the years.
"He certainly had a positive impact on the community," Crutcher said. "He's been an outstanding citizen here. He was great for Fort Scott."
Funeral services for Shepherd and a celebration of his life will take place at 10 a.m. Monday at the First Christian Church, 101 S. Judson St. The family will receive friends from 4 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Konantz-Cheney Funeral Home, 15 W. Wall St.