Lela Shepard and her Husband Ralph Shepard.

Twins Lela Woods Shepard and Lola Woods Schraeder

Obituary

Longtime Polk County Farm Couple Move to Town, Find Home in Salem 'Not So Bad' ----- Statesman Journal, Feb 19 1953; pg 14 -------- by Lillie L. Madsen

"You don't live in an area for 70 years and then leave without finding a bit of re-adjusting necessary and that's just what's happening to Ralph. I've lived there 40 years and that's long enough to call it home." Mrs Ralph Shepard said "Wednesday when we found her settled nicely in their new home at 2730 Sedona St. Salem.

Having visited the Shepards many times at their beautiful farm home near Zena in the Polk County hills, I could well understand what Mrs. Shepard was saying. Tey had sold their farm just after the first of the year and had moved, scarcely 10 days ago, to their new city home on the outskirts of Salem toward Silverton.

"We like our new home just fine and we are going to like living in Salem but we'd be sort of odd if we didn't miss our old place a little" she added, even admitting that "sure we shed a tear or two -- but not many. The place got too much for us. We decided we'd move to town and start to grow old gracefully while we could still readjust ourselves" ''' Reared Nine Children ''

' For a mother who has reared nine children, and lived a busy farm life for 40 years, Mrs Shepard doesn't exactly give indications of "settling down to grow old" at all, gracefully or otherwise.

Because she found the newly built four-room house somewhat too small to hold all that was brought along --("and we didn't bring many of out things along" she said)-- from the old eight room farm house ("and the rooms on the farm house were so much larger") an additional room was already started although the Shepards have lived in the place but 10 days.

'''Garden Will Take Time''' Gardening too, Mrs Shepard admitted will occupy much of the time." The place is pretty nicely planted, and we have a fine, big backyard -- but you know how it is, we'll just have to re-arrange some of that garden to suit ourselves. No matter how well a thing is planted some of it has to come up and be done over. Folk are just made that way, I guess, " She confided.

It was just about the time that Howard Taft was serving as president of the United States, that the pretty young Lela Woods met Ralph Shepard, a student at Oregon State College.

"You didn't marry and go to school then like now," she said adding that it was "in 1913 that we were married and came to Zena. We lived in a small house on the place for four years and then built the larger house in which out nine children -- we lost one -- were reared." Mrs Shepard reminisced. Six of these children, she said, had graduated from Oregon State College. Only two of the nine are living on farms now.

"Joe has a farm near Zena, and David has a farm in the Lafayette are. Maurice runs the West Salem Duel Company and Paul the Shepard and Zumwalt Equipment Company in Salem. Jim is carpentering in Pittsburg, Dorothy, (Mrs Walter Kime) is at Tillamook. Julia (Mrs Leland Bassett) is at Mill City where she is in charge of the office of Mountain States Power Company. Ruth (Mrs Robert Wright) and Arden (Mrs Calvin Welch) are both living in Seattle" She told. "And where is Ralph," I asked.

"Oh," she laughingly remarked. "He called me at noon and said he was working, wouldn't be home for lunch. He was helping Maurice today." '''100 Acres to Play With'''
She was silent a little while and then went on "He wont you know, be exactly lost. He kept hundred acres to play around with. It joins Joe's place, and imagine eventually, when we get a little more weaned away from the farm, we'll sell it to Joe. Forty acres are cleared and in grain. There are a few sheep on the place too."

Ralph Shepard was but a year old when he came to the Zena place with his parents and with the exception of the four years he spent at Corvallis, he had lived practically his entire life in the Polk County hills. At one time the Shepards had 2,000 in their well-equipped poultry houses, as well as 32 milk cows in their dairy barns. But work became too heavy and help became too scarce and expensive. For the past two years the Shepards rented the farm land and retained the house on the farm for their own living. The barns and poultry houses were empty.

'''Nichols Bought Place''' "But even that is hard to do and keep the place looking right, Mrs. Shepard aid, adding that "It was then we finally made up our mind to sell and move to town. We got some good farmers on the place. Earl Nichols and his son Dick, from Jefferson, wanted a larger place then they were farming so bought ours. It had 160 acres. They are re-activating both the dairy and poultry house"

As I stood at the door leaving, Mrs Shepard jokingly remarked that she was glad I came when "Ralph wasn't home. Men talk too much. We women never have a chance when they are around. But I know Ralph and I will both like our new home and find plenty to do, and you'll still be seeing us at farm meetings, We'd miss not going to them."