Whit Sheppard has passed

 

Whitney Sheppard Obituary

Whitney Clark Sheppard

Whit Sheppard, 59, died peacefully on December 27, 2023, at Greenwich Hospital, after a bravely-fought battle with melanoma.

Born in New York City on December 8, 1964, Whit was the beloved son of Linda C. Waterman, the late Christopher R. Sheppard, and the late Mike Waterman.

Whit moved to Greenwich as a very young boy, and attended the Greenwich Country Day School and Brunswick. He graduated from Deerfield Academy, Southern Methodist University, and also earned an MBA from the University of Texas and a master's in journalism from the University of Oregon. With his brilliant mind and insatiable passion for travel and adventure, Whit wore many hats and enjoyed stints in New York, Dallas, Austin, Eugene, Taos, Paris, Melbourne, Richmond, Boston, and Greenwich.

French teacher, ESPN journalist, Morgan Stanley analyst, Boston College tennis coach, and independent school advisor were among Whit's many professional roles. Whit was also very involved in the recovery community and served as a sponsor and mentor in Alcoholics Anonymous for nearly forty years, lifting up those struggling with addiction and touching many lives.

All who knew Whit would agree that far and away his greatest and proudest role in life was being an incredibly devoted father to his amazing daughter, Emily Vaughan Sheppard. Whit and Molly Taylor Sheppard shared their daughter, Emily, with love and grace, even after divorcing many years ago. Nothing brought Whit more joy than spending time with Emily, whom he adored beyond measure. He especially loved sharing his passion for travel with her as they created incredible memories together, exploring Australia, South Africa, Mauritius, Anguilla, Mexico, the UK, and France, on their epic father-daughter adventures.

Whit was a bibliophile, rackets enthusiast, golfer, dog lover, foodie, linguist, and globetrotter. He had a great sense of humor and loved words, cultures, languages, animals, and babies and children of all ages. Whit was a gentleman, charming and kind, old-school. He loved a good meal, a great book, tide rides in Martha's Vineyard, a fresh croissant, chai tea lattes, and playing tennis, paddle, and squash. Ever handsome with a twinkle in his eye, Whit will be sorely missed.

In addition to his daughter, Emily Sheppard, mother, Linda Waterman, and ex-wife, Molly Sheppard, Whit is survived by his brother, Neil Waterman and sister-in-law, Jen Waterman, his sister, Brooke Stahl and brother-in-law, Ryder Stahl, and many adoring nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, and his beloved rescue dog, Auggie.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Whit's memory to the Melanoma Research Foundation ( melanoma.org ) or to the ASPCA ( aspca.org ).

Ed. Note: So gratefeul that Whit (l) attended our 40th reunion...

Hank for the win...

Well, IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG!  Leave it to Hank to stroll to a neighborhood watering hole in Miami and sit down at the bar next to a gentleman in a green hat. Turns out it was his classmate Eric!

THANKS for taking and sending the photo!  Going to be a Happy '83 New Year...

Stick together in ‘24

Celebrate '24 by connecting with DA classmates just like Doug and JK did!  And remember to send the evidence to the blog, please.

New Year

Grateful for all the classmates who keep in touch.  Here's the latest from Chris Lotspeich with an intro by his wife Amy, all via Facebook. 

"Hi everyone! As this year comes to a close, I wanted to be sure to thank you all so much for your generous contributions of meals and financial support toward them. Chris wrote the note below to give everyone an update on how he's doing. As he says, these meals have provided an invaluable source of ease in an otherwise complicated balancing act. Thank you, and Happy New Year!! p.s. - Picture below is of Chris and his brother Matt who was here from Australia for the holidays. From Chris: I'd like to thank everyone who has joined Team Chris via Food Train. Life is getting more challenging. ALS has affected my hands and arms, gait, balance, speech and swallowing. I have lost ~75 lbs of muscle mass. I have regular fatigue and nap frequently. I drool, which is annoying. I have a feeding tube but I can eat and drink most things that others feed me. The whole thing remains a bit surreal. Yet I am very happy, my positive attitude is almost effortless and that can only help me in my predicament. I am highly fortunate to be progressing very slowly and I remain mostly independent eight years in from my earliest ALS symptoms. Half of the poor souls who get this terrible and capricious affliction don't live two years. My relatively slow progression puts me in the ~10% most favorable cohort of people with ALS (pALS). I have an embarrassment of riches in support from family and friends, foremost from my wonderful wife Amy Dunn. She is very busy with her successful independent consulting practice and holding the household together. I don't know how she does it. She is amazing yet her powers are not unlimited. This burden grows as my ability to pitch in and pull my weight diminishes. I am mindful that 80% of caregivers end up in the hospital before the person they are caring for, and I don't want that to happen to Amy. That is why Food Train is a perfect way to support our family. Amy runs hard all day and is tired come evening. Having a tasty nourishing meal delivered is a great help to the whole family, and especially to Amy who doesn't have to pull dinner together at the end of a long day. Your generosity has a direct beneficial impact on our family. Thank you!!"

This is the Meal Train for The Lotspeich/Dunn Family:

https://mealtrain.com/41qq6m