James Walter Shepherd, Jr, 85, husband of Lynn Sandefur Shepherd, passed away Sunday, April 5, 2020. Born in Robertson County, KY, he was the son of the late Adalene Asbury Shepherd and James Walter Shepherd, Sr.
Jim Shepherd was a graduate of Georgetown College and received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Kentucky. He practiced law for 45 years and also served as County Attorney for Carrol County as well as Assistant Commonwealth Attorney. A proud life-long democrat, he was a member of Georgetown First United Methodist Church, an Eagle Scout and was a US Army Artillery veteran graduating from Officer Candidate School in Fort Sill, OK.
Shepherd was a devout member of the United Methodist Church and a longtime supporter of the Kentucky United Methodist Foundation. A frequent lay leader to the Kentucky Annual Conference, he considered it a great privilege to be elected a Kentucky delegate to the 1988 United Methodist General Conference in St. Louis, Missouri.
As an ardent student of Kentucky history, Jim Shepherd served as President of the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) from 1998-2000 and was a member of the KHS Abraham Lincoln Society. He was also an appointed member of the Georgetown College Board of Trustees, his alma mater from 2007 to 2015.
Finally, Mr. Shepherd was among a group of pioneers and entrepreneurs at the dawn of the satellite cable television industry. In the late 1960s, he and fellow investors founded Ohio Valley Cablevision (OVC) that served communities in Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio throughout the 1970s.
In addition to his wife of 61 years, he is survived by his children, Malinda Asbury Shepherd, Georgetown, KY and James “Josh” Shepherd, III and his wife Pam Shepherd, Carlisle, KY; grandson, John Shepherd Presson and his wife, Emily Presson, Lexington; brother, Jack W. Shepherd, DDS, Georgetown, KY, and his wife, Linda Shepherd.
To abide by current guidelines that face our nation, services will be private conducted by Pastor Greg Gallaher of Georgetown First United Methodist Church. A public memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Kentucky United Methodist Church or Georgetown College.