Martha Shepperd

Martha was born in Abilene, Texas, on May 30, 1940, to Bonnie and Ben Davis. After serving in World War I, Ben Davis won a Purple Heart and became Abilene’s first certified public accountant in 1929. After a prestigious solo career, he co-founded Davis Kinard & Co., in 1971.

The Davis family spent a few years in Detroit, Michigan, during World War II while her father again served his country. Returning to West Texas after the war, Martha spent her formative years in Abilene. Abilene was an exhilarating place to grow up in post-war America. She attended Abilene High School during the historic success of the Eagle’s three consecutive state football championships from 1954-1956.

In her childhood summers, Martha attended Camp Waldemar in Hunt, Texas, for eight years. And while a proud member of the camp’s “Tejas” tribe, Martha was even happier to return to camp as the proud grandmother of a “Comanche.”

A graduate of The Hockaday School in Dallas, Texas, Martha attended the University of Texas at Austin where she enjoyed the lifelong fellowship of her sisters in the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. At this point in her life, Martha also met her soulmate and husband, J. Arthur (Art) Shepperd, Jr. They were married on Art’s birthday in 1960 and remained so until Art’s passing in May of 2020. They were true partners and were rarely seen apart from each other.

Martha was an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Helping Hand Home for Children in Austin. For more than 50 years, she volunteered and supported the Home. Her two sons, Ben and Trey, and her granddaughter, Elle, have all carried on the tradition of supporting the Home at every opportunity.

St. David’s Episcopal Church was another passion of Martha’s. She and Art were members for decades and she served the church in many capacities including on the Altar Guild for many years. She loved spending time working at St. David’s Next to New Shop in support of their mission.

Left to keep her memory alive are her two sons and three grandchildren, Ben, his wife, Jane, and their daughter, Elle, all of Austin; Trey, and his two sons, Wyatt and Wesley, all of Burnet; her stepmother-in-law, Epifania Shepperd of Burnet and her two children; Juan Shepperd, and his wife, Ann, of Austin; and Maria Shepperd Walker of Dallas.

Martha lovingly followed the activities of her two sons and grandchildren. She spent hundreds of hours attending little league baseball and football games around Austin and ballet recitals and Nutcracker productions in Midland. She also enjoyed the many hunting trips to south and West Texas and around Burnet. She could shoot a shotgun as well as anyone.

Later in life Martha and Art enjoyed spending time in Port Aransas, fishing all around the Texas coast and relaxing with friends. Traveling was important to them as well. They enjoyed many trips all over the world with the Flying Longhorns.

Martha never met a stranger and always tried to spread her positive, faithful attitude with anyone she met.

She was laid to rest earlier this week beside her beloved husband in Burnet, Texas.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in Martha’s memory to the Helping Hand Home for Children’s “Capital Campaign” in Austin or to the Trinity School of Midland’s “Patricia Maurer Endowed Fund.”