Morton W. & Elizabeth L. Shepard

MORTON W. SHEPARD, JR.ELIZABETH L. SHEPARDMorton William Shepard, Jr., died May 31, 2013, in Palm City, Florida. He was preceded in death by his wife, Elizabeth Lawson Shepard, who died on February 4, 2010, also in Palm City.Mort and Betty were born in Danbury. Mort attended Danbury High, graduated from Wooster School, and completed his formal education at Leathersellers Technical College in London. Betty graduated from Danbury High and then from Maryland College for Women in 1941. Mort and Betty were married at St. James Church in Danbury on July 19, 1941, where the reception at the Hotel Green was hosted by Florence Lawson Rooney and Fred Brown. Mort was the eldest son of Gladys Beltaire and Morton W. Shepard, Sr. Betty was the eldest child of Missouri Cawley and Alfred Brett Lawson.Mort shipped overseas in January 1942 and served in the US Army 90th Infantry Division campaigns in Central Europe, Rhineland and the Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge). After he returned at the end of 1945, Mort rejoined the leather tanning business of George A. Shepard & Sons in Bethel. Mort and Betty made their home at West Terrace and spent many good times raising a family and sailing with the Yacht Racing Association of Lake Candlewood and on Long Island Sound out of South Norwalk.In 1959, Mort and Betty moved to Wilton, Maine, where Mort continued in the leather industry and Betty taught high school English. Subsequent moves took them to Salem, Massachusetts, to Hackettstown, New Jersey, and to Hobe Sound, Florida. Mort volunteered for the International Executive Service Corps in the 1980's, and he and Betty traveled to several overseas locations, including six months in Cairo, where Mort assisted the leather industry. They moved into the retirement community at Sandhill Cove in Palm City, Florida, in 1996.Mort and Betty are survived by their children, Susan (Richard) Burriss of Los Gatos, CA, and M. William Shepard (Sally) of Port Macquarie, NSW, Australia, by four grandchildren, and by five great-grandchildren. Mort is survived by his brothers, John Shepard of Bethel and William Shepard of Denver. His brother, George Shepard of Hancock Point, Maine, preceded him in death. Betty was preceded in death by her brother, Alfred B. Lawson, Jr., and her sister, Barbara Orlando.Mort and Betty will remain together in death, as in life. A service for burial of their urn will be held at Center Cemetery on South Street, Bethel, on Monday, August 12th, at 11am. Arrangements by Hull Funeral Service.