SHEPPERD: Legacy lives on

Jim Shepperd’s passing was a surprise to many of us. Maybe at 90 it shouldn’t have been, but I expected to see him Tuesday morning at the VFW in Coeur d’Alene as I had before and planned to again. I joined some years ago as he encouraged me to, and then came to the morning coffees when he wondered why he hadn’t seen me there. He was always gentle in his prodding, but you usually did what Jim suggested. I read he passed peacefully in his sleep Monday night.

Jim was the true representative of a patriot foremost, a community booster and historian always, and a can do spirit that became part of the fabric of our community. His dedication to this place and his place in it is beyond question and/or comparison or equal. He was the best representative of us all that we could have hoped and wished for.

As one example, in about 1982 or ’83 the Fourth of July parade sponsors announced they could not put on the traditional city parade that year as they had for years. It was at the last minute and the parade was canceled. When Jim heard, he came to the Chamber for a parade entry for the color guard, and when told there was to be no parade that year, he said, “Like hell there won’t be.” He went to the city and took out a parade permit himself. He organized the traditional VFW military color guard to march as if leading a parade down Sherman as they had so many years before.

Only through Jim’s efforts, the city of Coeur d’Alene can claim continuous Fourth of July parades for 100 years or more running, and Jim could proudly say he led no fewer than 50 of them. He is a community hero in so many ways who we need to celebrate and remember. He will be missed, but his example and legacy will not be forgotten.

J.A. “SANDY” EMERSON

Coeur d’Alene