Mr. Earl David Shepherd's Obituary
The Expectation of Excellence
EARL DAVID SHEPHERD
Sunrise: November 24, 1942 – Sunset: November 7, 2025
“Keep speaking up; we may just listen. Mendacity shackles us; veracity
emancipates us.” - Earl David Shepherd
Earl David Shepherd’s life began in the historic heart of Houston’s Fifth Ward, at 1015 Booker T.
Street, a home shaped by discipline, expectation, and love. David and Frances Simpson
Shepherd were blessed with their second son, Earl David, in 1942. Young Earl grew up in a
caring neighborhood that created in him a sense of gratitude for opportunity and an unshakable
commitment to make good of it. He learned early that education was not only a vehicle to
opportunity, but a responsibility, and he carried that discipline throughout his life.
He attended Bruce Elementary, E. O. Smith Junior High and Phillis Wheatley Senior High
Schools, where he excelled academically and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1961. He served
as President of the National Honor Society Chapter, Vice President of the Beau Brummel Club,
and Editor of the Class Yearbook. His achievements earned him the Jesse H. Jones Houston
Endowment Scholarship to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he earned his
Bachelor of Science degree in Structural Engineering. This foundation shaped a distinguished
career defined by rigor, thoughtful leadership, and assertive advocacy for progress. While in
school, Earl became active in civil rights initiatives, assisting in the documentation of test cases
related to Houston’s Woolworth’s store and Playland Park. His acumen for development of
strategies reflected his high level of intelligence that quietly guided every move of his life with
the expectation of excellence.
Earl served in engineering and senior management roles with M. W. Kellogg Company, Fluor
Daniels, Industrial Project Controls Specialists, and the Singer Link Group, where he contributed
to simulation engineering efforts supporting the Apollo mission program. He also worked with
the Computer Usage Company in engineering systems development. He later founded and led
Thomas, Williams & Shepherd, LLC, and Project Solutions, Inc., a firm specializing in industrial
contracting, construction management, and project planning. In every role, Earl was recognized
for clarity of judgment, disciplined thinking, and fair dealing. He required excellence of himself
and encouraged it in others.
His work as an engineer took him far beyond Houston. Earl lived and served on extended
assignments in Arzew, Algeria, and The Hague in the Netherlands, as well as Baton Rouge, LA,
Chicago, IL, Rochester and Honeoye Falls, NY and beyond. He traveled to Canada, Mexico,
Brazil, Venezuela, Australia, India, Saudi Arabia, and throughout Europe and the Caribbean.
Although he grew up on the unpaved, one-block long, dusty Booker T. Street, Earl became a
man who carried the world in his conversations, his understanding, and his perspective.
Earl’s faith was a soft-spoken constant. He was baptized at the family church, across the street
from Finnigan Park, Mount Corinth Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday School and sang in
the youth choir. Later in life, he was confirmed in the Episcopal Church and remained active in
the congregations where he lived, including St. James’ Episcopal Church in Houston and St.
John’s Episcopal Church in Honeoye Falls, New York. At St. James, he ushered; at St. John’s,
he coordinated fundraising and worship services. His faith was not only performative; it was
lived, steady, disciplined, and rooted in service and personal accountability.
He believed in fellowship and community as a source of identity, responsibility, and growth. Earl
was a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. for more than sixty years. As a life
member, he served in multiple leadership roles. He was also a former Archon of Sigma Pi Phi
Fraternity, Inc., a member of the Rochester Black Business Association, Toastmasters, and
Houston Metropolitan Duplicate Bridge Unit and a convenor of multiple book clubs. These
communities sharpened him and sustained him. They were spaces of mentorship, humor,
debate, and shared purpose.
Earl was a skier, golfer, and competitive bridge player. He was also an avid reader, reading
more than four hundred books across history, politics, biography, and social thought. He
believed that a well-furnished mind was part of living fully.
Above all, Earl was a family man. He and his first wife, Sheila Waldon, welcomed their son,
Russell, in 1970. Earl took deep pride in the man his son became — steady, thoughtful,
responsible, and grounded. Years later, mutual friends introduced him to Brenda L. Darby
because they felt that he would be a “safe date” for her – kind, thoughtful and funny. On the day
they met, Brenda described him as the man she would marry. The perfect match wed in 1978.
Brenda was the love of his life, his steady partner and daily companion for 47 years. Their
marriage was shaped by respect, conversation, humor, travel, mutual care, and an everlasting
love that carried them through the good times and the health and physical challenges that life
brought.
Earl was a source of wisdom for many; his guidance was grounded in truth and delivered with
love. He believed that accountability was a form of care and that how one lives is the clearest
statement of one’s values. He is and will be sorely missed.
He leaves behind his wife, Brenda Darby Shepherd, his son, Russell David Shepherd, and
daughter-in-law, Darlene Shepherd, granddaughter, Ariel Shepherd, and grandson, Gregory
Shepherd. Earl’s father was one of fourteen Shepherd siblings causing Earl to be survived by
scores of first, second and third cousins in Texas, Mississippi, Illinois, California and other
places throughout the nation. Those in Houston include Doris Shepherd Matlock and her son,
Mark Matlock; Mary Shepherd Butler, Benjamin, Andrew and Pamela Shepherd; cousins,
Algenita Scott Davis, her daughter, Marthea Davis, and son, John Whittaker Davis, IV; and
Jacky Neil Scott, his wife, Cynthia Fuller Scott, and their daughter, Earl’s Goddaughter, Jackea
Scott Lilly, her husband, Michael Lilly, and their four sons; extended family, inordinately
supportive friends, fraternity brothers, colleagues, and a host of friends whose relationships
were shaped by his insight, steadiness, and genuine care. We honor his life by carrying forward
the values he lived.
He lived well.
We honor him.
We carry him forward.
What’s your fondest memory of Earl?
What’s a lesson you learned from Earl?
Share a story where Earl's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Earl you’ll never forget.
How did Earl make you smile?