La Rue E. Shepard
September 17, 1919 – October 26, 2011
Canon La Rue E. Shepard, who since 1926 attended St. Philip the Evangelist Church in Los Angeles and served as one of its most dedicated lay leaders, died on October 26. He was 92.
Requiem Eucharist is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 5, at St. Philip’s. Bishop Diocesan J. Jon Bruno will preside.
Shepard is survived by his wife, Doris, their three children, Edward, Fran and Chris, and their families, including three grandchildren.
A third-generation Californian, Shepard was born on September 17, 1919 to Edward E. Shepard and Josephine Luvenia Soares-Shepard. At age 7, he first visited St. Philip’s Church at the invitation of a parishioner, Mrs. Morgan. Shepard recounts this experience in a video tape prepared for the centennial of the Diocese of Los Angeles in 1995.
In 1932, Shepard began serving St. Philip’s as an acolyte. He went on to assist the parish as master of ceremonies, subdeacon, lector, lay reader, lay eucharistic minister, vestry member, treasurer, senior warden, and parish administrator.
He was a member of the diocesan Centennial Committee, Commission on Lay Ministry, the board of directors of Hillsides Home for Children and the committee to build the Cathedral Center of St. Paul, of which he was named an honorary canon in 2001.
In the late 1970s, Shepard was instrumental in reviving a local chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians. For many years he served as UBE’s western regional representative and as chapter treasurer.
Shepard devoted nearly full-time volunteer service to his parish and the diocesan community upon retiring after 34 years of employment with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which he served as jail stores manager.
At his request, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Hillsides Home for Children, 940 Avenue 64, Pasadena, CA 91105.