George R. Shepard was born on October 25, 1895, in Concordia, Kansas. His father was a Baptist minister and served parishes in Salina and Iola, Kansas and Billings, Montana, where they moved in 1913.
Shepard graduated from Billings High School in 1914, taught in Yellowstone County, and was principal of Custer High School. While teaching he homesteaded a claim six miles north of Custer, Montana. In 1917, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served until 1919. He entered the University of Montana--Missoula that same year and graduated in 1921 with A.B. and LL.B degrees. He taught school for another year, then became the general attorney for the Missoula Mercantile Company and operated a general law practice.
Shepard was a Republican and served in the 1928 state legislature, where he focused on child labor and state parks. He was a member of the Business Standards Committee of Montana, the Kiwanis Club, and the Baptist Church.
He married Gertrude Orr of Missoula in 1921. They had seven children: Helen, Dorothy, George Jr., Elizabeth, Patricia, John, and Carol. Shepard was struck by a drunk driver in Three Forks, Montana, and died in Bozeman, Montana, on September 18, 1944. Gertrude Shepard died on May 17, 1996, in Bremerton, Washington.
From the guide to the George R. Shepard Papers, 1921-1944, (University of Montana--Missoula Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections)
