Lester "Les" Carl Sheppard
Feb 26, 1932 -
Mar 7, 2023
In 1957, Les Sheppard and his wife, Kathleen, loaded their two daughters, Debbie (age 4) and Lori (age 4 months) into the front seat of a pickup truck and, pulling a 40-foot trailer up the Alaska Canadian Highway, started an adventure that would last a lifetime. On March 7, 2023, Lester "Les" Carl Sheppard (age 91), fiercely independent Alaska pioneer, peacefully joined Kathleen on their next adventure together.
Les served in the Air Force as a jet mechanic during the Korean War. While subsequently stationed at McCord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Wash., Les was intrigued by the opportunity to continue his service in Anchorage at Elmendorf Air Force Base. Alaska in 1957 was a territory and he could bring his family, as long as he also brought his own housing. Upon arrival, he started building extensions onto trailers to give people more living space and rapidly fell in love with home building. He left the Air Force a proud veteran, started his company, Les Sheppard Builder, and spent the rest of his career building homes throughout Anchorage. He was the first builder in Anchorage to develop a planned unit development, Woodside East.
Les loved all things outdoors and was an accomplished fisherman and downhill and Nordic skier. However, once he and Kathleen started playing tennis, all other activities took a backseat. They loved tennis and the tennis community. He enjoyed talking about tennis and the early days of Anchorage and Elmendorf with "newcomers" to the city as well as his new community of friends at Baxter Senior Living.
Les is survived by his daughters, Debbie McIntosh and Lori Gillam (Dave Gillam). He was a proud grandfather, having four grandchildren: Ian McIntosh (Jenga Keenan), Colin Gillam, Aspen Young (Jim Young), Lindsay McIntosh-Tolle (Dan McIntosh-Tolle). He was also delighted to be a great-grandpa to Mckenna Young and Collins Young.
As per his wishes, a service is not planned. His family wishes to thank Baxter Senior Living, Ancora Hospice and the VA for the excellent care and support they provided.
