THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 20, 1996 TAG: 9607200181
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 41 lines
William Lockridge Shepheard Sr., 84, of the 6000 block of River Crescent, died July 18, 1996, at his home.
Mr. Shepheard was born in Portsmouth and moved to Norfolk in 1922. He was a member of First United Methodist Church, Norfolk, where he taught Sunday school for many years; a member of Corinthian Lodge (NU)266; Khedive Temple; Scottish Rite Bodies and a 32nd degree Mason. He graduated from Maury High School and attended the college of William and Mary in Williamsburg.
As a businessman, in 1936, Mr. Shepheard started as a sheet metal manufacturer and went on to form Norfolk Tool and Die, Lynebilt Corporation, and William L. Shepheard and Co. In 1946, he founded Air-A-Plane Corporation, for which he served as chairman of the board until his recent illness. Air-A-Plane designs, builds, installs, and services ground support heating and air conditioning units for the airline industry and airport authorities worldwide. He was awarded Small Businessman of the Year in 1968 by the U.S. Small Businessman Administration. As an inventor, he received numerous patents, most significant of which was his 1961 patent for ``Rocket Construction,'' which established the basic principle for the heat shield utilized for all re-entry vehicles until the advent of the space shuttle. As a political advocate, he was instrumental in the reopening of the Norfolk City Schools in 1959, the abolishment of the poll tax in Virginia in 1966, and the U.S. Supreme Court case establishing one man, one vote.
As a husband, he was happily married for 59 years to Marie Tabit Shepheard who predeceased him in 1994. As a father he is survived by a daughter, Lynnette S. Regan of Virginia Beach; two sons, William L. Shepheard Jr. and Thomas E. Shepheard, both of Virginia Beach; seven grandchildren, Elizabeth M. Heil, William L. Shepheard III, David M. Shepheard, Stephen D. Shepheard, Jeffrey T. Regan, Justin E.T. Shepheard, and Cooper J. Shepheard; and a great-granddaughter, Jennifer A. Shepheard.
The funeral will be conducted at 2 p.m. Monday in First United Methodist Church of Norfolk. Burial will be in Forest Lawn Cemetery. The family will be at Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home, Tidewater Drive Chapel, from 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday and at Mr. Shepheard's home following the service Monday. Memorial donations may be made to First United Methodist Church, Norfolk.
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY by CNB