Funeral services for Mark Sheppard, Sr., 89, of Tulsa, formerly of Rose, Okla. was held Monday, Dec. 22 near Rose with interment in the Rose Cemetery. He passed from this life on Dec. 18, 2003, in Tulsa.
He was born Jan. 20, 1914, in Magazine, Ark. to Henry Edward and Polly Irene (Cleveland) Sheppard. He lived in Arkansas as a young boy, coming to Oklahoma at the age of 14. He later moved to California, and married Ola Faye Boone on June 26, 1943, in Bakersfield. He worked as a carpenter, and helped build Disneyland and Travis Air Force Base. The Sheppards lived in Woodlake from 1950-1966 while raising their family. He was working in maintenance for a local school district in 1956 when he designed a prototype for what later became the gas-powered leaf blower although he never managed to secure a patent himself. In 1966 the Sheppard family came to Rose, where he eventually opened his own wood shop. He started his chicken farm operation there in 1978, and finally retired in 1985. In his retirement, he was known for his amazing handcrafted martin birdhouses. He loved to talk and tell stories, and he was always willing to lend a helping hand.Mr. and Mrs. Sheppard moved to Tulsa from Sportsmen Acres when his health began to decline in 1992.
He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Ola Faye of the home; two sons, Mark Sheppard, Jr. and wife Darlene of Catoosa, Okla., Donald and Linda Sheppard of Locust Grove; daughter, Paula and husband Willard Herbert of Tulsa; brother, Luke Sheppard of Tulsa; three sisters, Tina Thomas of Tulsa, Nina Freshman of Tehachapi, Calif., and Ina Reimer of Los Angeles; six grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by both parents; three brothers, Henry, Carl, and Luther Sheppard; and four great-grandchildren.
Services were under the direction of the Locust Grove Funeral Home, Locust Grove, Okla.
