Dr. Millard A. Shepherd

Dr. Millard A. Shepherd, 85, of Somerset, KY, passed away Wednesday, March 07, 2007, at the Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital. Born on December 15, 1921 in Stearns, McCreary County to John and Eva Inman Shepherd, he was number 6 in a family of 9 boys and 1 girl. He moved to Science Hill where he attended Science Hill School. He was a student at Berea College when Pearl Harbor was bombed and he joined the Army Air Force. He served as an aerial gunnery instructor while stationed in Las Vegas. After WWII he operated a general store and post office in Alcalde for two years. He then returned to college at the University of Louisville where he completed his Medical Degree. Before receiving a Public Health Degree from the University of North Carolina, he had a private practice of medicine and surgery in Harrodsburg, KY. After completing a Boards in Preventive Medicine and Public Health Administration, he worked for the Kentucky State Department of Public Health. He served as the Regional Medical Director for an area from Harlan to Thompkinsville and organized the Lake Cumberland District Health Department in Somerset. Upon retiring after 30 years of service to the Kentucky State Health Department, he worked for two years as a physician for the Aaron Clinic in Columbia, Kentucky. Dr. Shepherd published hundreds of Health Columns in the Commonwealth Journal and in the Harlan Daily Enterprise. Millard Shepherd married Hazel Virginia Waddle, November 2nd, 1943, and they just recently celebrated thier 63rd anniversary. The couple is well known throughout the country as " Doc and Virginia" and are highly regarded as promoters of the western style square dancing. They were the founders of the Somer-sets Square Dance Club. He was an avid outdoorsman and loved to hunt, fish, hike and garden. He was a 47 year member of the First Baptist Church of Somerset; he was a life member of many organizations including the AMA, KMA, Pulaski Co. Medical Society, the KY Sportsman League and the American Legion. He was a Kentucky Colonel and an Honorary Member of the Somer-sets Square Dance Club. He is survived by his wife, Virginia; three daughters, Evelyn (and Tom) Godbey of Louisville, KY, Pamela (and Eldon) Matlick of Norman, OK., and Bonnie (and Greg) Bausch of Morehead, KY; three brothers, Ancil, Theodore, and Dewey Shepherd; one sister, Flonnie (and Delmer) Farmer; four grandchildren, Ben Godbey, Dan Godbey, Jeremy Matlick and Emily Bausch, as well as 5 great grandsons. He is preceded in death by his parents and five brothers, Lester, Roscoe, Matthew, Willard and Silas Shepherd. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, March 10, 2007 at the Chapel of the Pulaski Funeral Home with Rev. Bill Adcock officiating. Burial will follow in the Lakeside Memorial Gardens. The family of Dr. Millard A. Shepherd will receive friends from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday, March 09, 2007 at Pulaski Funeral Home. In Leiu of flowers, the family requests expressions of sympathy take the form of donations to the American Heart Association or the American Cancer Society. Pulaski Funeral Home is in charge of all funeral arrangements.