Shepard, Edith Irene

Edith Irene Shepard, 87, of Bella Vista, Ark., died Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012, at Concordia Care Center in Bella Vista.

She was born March 24, 1925, in Bristow, Iowa, to John and Olive (Piper) Miller. She graduated from Rudd, Iowa, attended Upper Iowa University, and taught junior high at Titonka and Postville, Iowa. She married Robert Shepard on June 22, 1947, and moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where she was employed by Newman's, Killian's and Armstrong's department stores and, for 25 years, by Sears Roebuck and Co., retiring in 1985 as a division manager. She moved to Bella Vista in 1992.

She was a member of First United Methodist Church in Bella Vista and the Ladies Auxiliary of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

She was preceded in death by her parents; one sister; one brother; and her husband, Robert in 1998.

She is survived by her son, Douglas (Sherry) of Toledo, Iowa; her daughter, Heather Lingo (Jeff) of Plano, Texas; one brother, Merle Miller of Johnston, Iowa; one sister-in-law, Helen Shepard of Cedar Rapids; three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

A Memorial Service will be at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 28, at First United Methodist Church in Bella Vista. Arrangements are by Bella Vista Funeral Home & Crematory, 2258 Forest Hills Blvd., Bella Vista, AR.

Memorials may be made to First United Methodist Church, 20 Boyce Dr., Bella Vista, AR 72715; Circle of Life Hospice, 901 Jones Rd., Springdale, AR 72762 or a charity of your choice.

Online condolences may be made at

Published Sept. 26, 2012 in The Gazette

Updated information in survivor paragraph Sept. 26.