[1] He was a seventh generation dairy farmer and lived and worked on Elm View Farm in Warren for most of his life.

During his final term he was vice chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and helped modernize the state's budgeting process.

[3] In 1965 he was appointed deputy commissioner for fiscal affairs in the department of Administration and Finance by Governor John A.

When the position was reorganized into a cabinet-level office the following year, Shepard became the first Secretary of Administration and Finance of Massachusetts.

He died on September 9, 1992, at a nursing home in West Brookfield, Massachusetts after a yearlong battle with cancer.