Carol Ruth Shepherd

Born in Bridgeport, CT on August 24, 1922, she was the daughter of Judge Joseph G. and Helen Shapiro. She was predeceased by her husband of 69 years “Shep” Shepherd. She graduated from Cornell University in 1944 with a B.S. in Home Economics, now the School of Human Ecology, where she specialized in Nutrition. She went on to work in the Army Air Corps in a variety of jobs including food organization analysis and often talked of painting numbers on airplanes.

Carol Ruth joined the League of Women Voters in Bridgeport in 1947 alongside her mother. Together their passion for volunteering led her to become Connecticut State president, following her mother’s term. They were a strong mother daughter team with the League and at Congregation B’nai Israel in Bridgeport. Carol Ruth and Shep moved to New Canaan in 1964 and settled into life in the Frank Lloyd Wright house on Frogtown Road. They enjoyed sharing their home with the public for many community events and she continued her work with the League.

In 1971 CR fulfilled a dream and founded PhotoGraphics Workshop on Elm Street in New Canaan, known to many as PGW. She saw it as a place that artists could gather and have creativity as their common language. Following her experience with her mother, she encouraged her daughter, Beth Shepherd Peters, to join PGW. Together they educated and inspired thousands of students from teenagers to students in their 90s.

She and Shep were active members in the Young President's Organization and the World Business Council and traveled throughout the world in conjunction with these organizations, studying everywhere they went.

In 1993, she joined her husband in founding the Albert B. Sabin Vaccine Institute with the main headquarters in New Canaan now in Washington DC. They forged a vision together and she proudly traveled to Washington at 91 to celebrate the Sabin Institutes 20th Anniversary.

She was a flawless example of what a mother could be and, right to the end, saw her children as individuals. Carol Ruth is survived by her four children, John Shepherd and his wife Susan Tunick of Easton, CT, Marjorie Shepherd Loeper and her husband John of Ocean City, NJ, Beth Shepherd Peters and her husband Kenneth of New Canaan and Benjamin Shepherd and his wife Liz of Boston, MA as well as eight grandchildren, a great-granddaughter, nephews and nieces and her sister Elaine Silver of Boca Raton Florida. She is predeceased by her brother Howard Scott.

Services will be held at Temple Sinai 458 Lakeside Dr. Stamford, CT Sunday May 8th at 2:30 p.m.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations can be made to Temple Sinai 458 Lakeside Drive Stamford, CT and Sabin Vaccine Institute 2000 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Suite 7100 Washington, DC 20006