THE STORY OF KATHY

Kathy Shepard is many things to many people. You may know her as a teacher, a friend, or the nice lady sitting on the front row in the sanctuary. The one who quickly hops up if anything is needed with any of our church children during the worship service. That’s because Kathy is the kind of person who loves to work, loves to serve, loves to be useful, and loves people of all kinds. This is her story.

Kathy was born on July 18, 1959, and lived her entire life, other than her college years, in Richlands. She was a small-town kid and she loved it! Back in the 60s and 70s she could be found up and down the quaint streets of Richlands – walking, biking, and yes, even roller skating. She was actually spotted a few times in her earlier years riding her tricycle to Dr. Chandler’s office where she’d score a piece of candy from his wife just for telling them she had a backache! 

Like many youngsters of that time, Kathy worked in tobacco. Of all the jobs she’s had in her life, this is the only one she didn’t care for. Not even a little bit. She served ice cream at the Tastee Freez in her high school years, quite a few steps up from being a tobacco looper, in her opinion. Aside from her work and leisure activities, during her teen years Kathy was a member of The Rainbow Girls, a Masonic youth service organization, where teaching centered around values such as faith, hope, charity, and kindness.

She was a student at Richlands Elementary, Trexler Middle, and Richlands High and loved every minute of her school life growing up. Upon graduation, Kathy attended Mount Olive College for two years and then moved to Atlantic Christian College in Wilson to finish her four-year degree in education. 

She could have begun her teaching career at Richlands High School but would have been teaching senior English to her brother and his friends. Not quite up for that sort of challenge, she opted to begin at Dixon Middle School instead. She taught 8th grade English there for 3 years and then moved to Northwoods Park Middle, where she continued to teach 8th graders for the next 30 years. Kathy became National Board Certified in 1995, after field testing in 1994. She was one of only eight teachers in the state of North Carolina and the only one in Onslow County to become nationally certified during this inaugural year of the program. In 2014, after 33 years in a career she loved, Kathy retired. Shortly after retiring, organizing soup cans in her pantry became boring, and Kathy was strongly encouraged by her husband Larry to find a job! She began working for Hallmark in the fall of 2014 and continues that job today. It’s not unusual to run into Kathy at various local stores, restocking their supply of greeting cards.

As much as Kathy has loved her work life, she has also found enjoyment in hobbies. She was an avid cross-stitcher for years. She enjoys binge-watching crime drama TV shows from start to finish. Among her favorites are NCIS, Bones, and Person of Interest. She comes from a family with a law enforcement background, so her desire to be an armchair investigator makes perfect sense! Kathy has also become a genealogy buff and plans to do more research on her mother’s family history after learning that she was a Shaw from Duplin County.

Kathy has been blessed to be a wife, mother, and grandmother. She married Larry in 1981 and they added three precious boys to their family through the years – Jordan in 1990, Carson in 1992, and Peyton in 2000. She is now a busy grandmother to two little boys and two little girls, ranging in age from 1 to 7.

In the mid 1990s a chance encounter with Brenda Harrell at Pizza Village resulted in an invitation for the Shepard family to visit our church. They attended soon after and the rest, as they say, is history. Since joining here, Kathy has served as an elder, a Sunday School teacher of all ages, our Camp Kirkwood Bible School contact person, teacher of children at Wednesday night Bible study, nursery worker, PEEP Board member, and Christian Education Committee moderator. One of her favorite roles has been working on the Worship Committee, setting up and cleaning up for our various worship services. It is safe to say if a job needs doing here at Beulaville Presbyterian, Kathy has probably done it. And if she hasn’t, she’ll be more than happy to take a shot at it. 

Kathy finds peace in her favorite Bible passage, the 23rd Psalm. Her favorite hymns include Lord You Have Come to the Lakeshore, I Danced in the Morning, Blessed Assurance, and How Great Thou Art … the Karen Albertson version. She has a true servant’s heart and takes delight in doing any job well. Blessing our church family with her time, her work ethic, her talents, and her kind, gentle spirit brings joy to Kathy, just as it does to all of us.