Johnnie Shepherd, U.S. Navy

Father of Leanne Madeley (writer of this story)
Grandfather of Brian, Erin, & Lauren Madeley
Married in 1935 to Lucille Brian by Dr. George W. Truett at First Baptist Church, Dallas.

He was in the Navy - specifically the Seabees, the construction battalion, stationed in Hawaii. After the war was over, came home aboard the largest U.S. aircraft carrier at the time, the USS Saratoga, and sailed under the San Francisco Bridge into the San Francisco Bay to a fabulous homecoming. When the ship docked, all of the thousands of duffle bags were literally thrown off onto the pier. Daddy just happened to be standing where his was thrown off and managed to bring it home.

Before the war, he was stationed in Rhode Island for two years where he and mother made life-long friendships with three other Christian couples, who they kept up with until death parted all of them. They all met together frequently at the USO to gather around the piano and sing hymns and gospel songs. Two of these couples (one in Washington and one in Indiana) surprised Mother and Daddy and came to our wedding (Paul and Leanne Madeley) in 1973.

Perhaps one of the most amazing and noble things my daddy did was to voluntarily join the war effort. He was 39 and past the age required to serve, but felt the cause worthy and wanted to do his part. At the time he and mother were directors of a young people's Sunday School group. Years later when Daddy died, one of the young men who was in that department told us he would never forget the example that Daddy set so many years before, for all of those young men who "had" to serve in the military. He said he never forgot that.

A little handwritten note handwritten by my mother was given to him before he left for active duty. He outlived her by 14 years and carried this in his wallet until the day he died. They were married for 50 years.