Francis James Shepherd

In Loving Memory ~
Known as Frank Shepherd, he was born in Port Alberni to Morgan and Frances Shepherd on June 18, 1941. His father, Morgan Shepherd, was conscripted to build the Canadian Airforce base in Comox and the family moved to Kye Bay when he was 11 months old. His father built a home and some other homes in Kye Bay.
Frank went to Radio College in Toronto gained a degree as a Electronic technician, then used this skill to build some of the early electronic machinery, which were huge compared to the tiny equipment now.
He met and married his wife, Jean, in 1963 and together they had identical twin boys, John Francis Shepherd and James Morgan Shepherd who were born in Belleville, Ontario. He returned home in the early summer of 1965, with his new wife and even newer kids.
He then followed the family business, Shepherd and Anderson Construction, and started a building career in the Comox Valley.
Many of the buildings in the Courtenay main streets were built by Frank and many of these buildings were challenging because of an extremely low hardpan.
Frank then went to work as a finish carpenter at Gooldrup Hulls in Campbell River, where many of the large fiberglass - hulled commercial fishing boats were built. His woven Teak doors were legendary.
Working with fishing boats increased his knowledge of fishing and he became interested in the life cycle of salmon so he spear-headed a salmon enhancement project in the Little River and this project remains functioning on Beaver Meadows Farm and Frank started commercial fishing with Jean.
Commercial fishing in a small boat allowed him to explore the many inlets and shoreline of both Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia. Protection of salmon habitat became a strong interest. When the new Island Highway was built, Frank was hired to supervise the workers in order to protect salmon habitat around the many streams, which the highway crosses.
One of the most interesting crossings was for frogs from a marshy area that crossed the highway making the highway very slippery. A fence was built to stop the frogs from going on the highway and a tunnel under the highway to take the frogs to the other side. Many of the Highways Department employees learned important information, which they have taken and applied to other highways.
He leaves behind, his wife Jean, his two sons; John and James, daughter-in-laws; Lisa and Barb, and five grandchildren, Matthew, Danielle, Cole, Justin, and Taryn.
Frank's creative mind has touched multitude of people in many different areas. He will be missed!
A Celebration of Life will occur
Saturday October 8, 2022 at the
Courtenay Fish and Game Clubhouse, at 1:00 pm, with refreshments, snacks and tall tales to follow.