Robert Mitchell Shepherd, 81, of Franklin, passed away Monday, November 2, 2020.
Born in Macon County, he was the son of the late Perry Soloman Shepherd and Lola Mae Messer Shepherd. In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by a sister, Minnie Talley and a brother, John Shepherd. Robert proudly served his country in the U.S. Army, stationed in the Panama Canal Zone during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Upon his discharge from the service, he was awarded a "Letter of Commendation", commending him for his outstanding performance of duty, for accomplishing any assigned task with a maximum degree of efficiency and always being the first to volunteer for a task. His supervisors had nothing but praise for his performance and stated it was a pleasure to have an individual with that caliber serving under him and would welcome the opportunity again. He was a Supervisor with General Motors before his retirement. Robert was a member of Liberty Baptist Church, the American Legion and the VFW. He enjoyed NASCAR and hanging out with the other Shepherd men at the fruit stand.
Robert is survived by his loving wife, Judith King Shepherd; daughter, Dori Coakley of Tiger, GA; step-children, Bob King, of Franklin, Mike King, of Omaha, NE, Randy King, of Texas; siblings, Roger Shepherd, of Candler, Kenneth Shepherd, Raymond Shepherd, Ray Shepherd, Steve Shepherd, all of Franklin, Betty Tallent, of Greenville, SC and Jan Yonce, of Murphy, NC; twelve grandchildren and sixteen great grandchildren as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 pm, Friday, November 6 in the chapel of Macon Funeral Home. Rev. Andy Cloer, Rev. Steve Reeves, Rev. Davis Hooper, Rev. Wesley Hooper will officiate and Randy King will speak. Burial will follow in the Shepherd Cemetery. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.
Pallbearers will be Trevor Mason, Blake King, Bobby King, Josh King, Ken Shepherd and Mike Shepherd. Honorary pallbearers will be Darrell Carter, David Yonce, Jerry Jennings, Harold Barrett, Paul Shuler, R.V. Shields, Bob King, Mike King, Randy King, Landy Pendergrass, Bruce Giles, Chandler Bryant, Don Brown, Mitchell Owenby and Charlie Dowdle.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Shepherd Cemetery C/O Josephine Jennings, PO Box 781, Franklin, NC 28744 and the American Cancer Society, www.cancer.org.
Macon Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.
Condolences may be made to the family at www.maconfuneralhome.com