Neal Shepard Jr.

Neal F. Shepard, Jr., 79, a resident of King of Prussia PA since 1967, passed away at Paoli Hospital on April 21, 2017 after a long battle with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. A retired aerospace engineer, he and his wife, Faith L. (Crane) Shepard observed their 55th wedding anniversary on November 18th, of last year. Born February 9, 1938 in Baltimore, MD, he was the son of the late Neal F. and Mildred E. (Starkey) Shepard. He was a 1960 graduate of Rutgers University and later earned his master's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Upon graduation, Mr. Shepard was employed by the aerospace division of the General Electric Co. in King of Prussia (this operation ultimately became Lockheed Martin). He worked on the early development of photovoltaic power systems for numerous satellite missions and was instrumental in the early analysis of photovoltaic power system performance in earth orbit. He also worked for many years on the early development of photovoltaic systems for terrestrial applications. Before his retirement from Lockheed Martin in 1999, he was the Mechanical Systems Engineer on Landsat 7 which was successfully launched in April of that year. After retirement from Lockheed Martin, he continued to work as an independent contractor on the structural design and analysis of numerous aircraft flight simulators and assorted items of mechanical aerospace ground support equipment. For the last 16 years of his life, he was a member of a group of dedicated volunteers who repaired and reconditioned talking book machines for the blind under the auspices of the Library of Congress. Sponsorship of this group began under General Electric and continues under Lockheed Martin.



He was a man of exceptional integrity and dignity and was a wonderful husband, father and grandfather and will be dearly missed by all. In addition to his wife, he is survived by two children, Kenneth L. Shepard and his husband Jack Kouloheris of Ossining, NY and Jennifer L. (Shepard) Dovey and her husband, Michael C. Dovey of Auburndale, MA; and two grandchildren, Luke Alexander and William David Dovey. He is also survived by two sisters, Susan King Green of Garden Grove, CA and Marian Powell of Blairsville, GA. Relatives and friends are invited to attend his memorial service on Wednesday, April 26, 2017, at 11:00 AM at the Donohue Funeral Home, 366 W. Lancaster Avenue, Wayne, PA 19087 610-989-9600. Family will receive friends beforehand from 10:00 to 11:00 AM. Burial will follow at Valley Forge Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, please contribute to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, 230 East Ohio Street, Suite 500, Chicago, Illinois 60611.

Visitation

Wednesday, April 26, 2017 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
The Donohue Funeral Home
3300 West Chester Pike Newtown Square 19073, United States

Funeral Service

Wednesday, April 26, 2017 11:00 AM
The Donohue Funeral Home
3300 West Chester Pike Newtown Square 19073, United States