Leroy Shepherd, Jr., beloved father, grandfather, great-grandfather, husband, brother and friend, passed away on December 3, 2025, at the West Roxbury Veterans Hospital.  "Roy Jr.," as he was affectionally known by his six siblings, was born in Raleigh Durham, North Carolina on March 15, 1942.  He was the son of Leroy Shepherd and Trula Hargrove Shepherd and the oldest of seven children, Willy Shepherd (deced), Carolyn Shepherd, Joyce Shepherd Burrus, Lester Shepherd, Al Shepherd, and Arnetta Shepherd. Roy Jr.  grew up in the segregated south in abject poverty. He spent time with other families, including the Edwards and Hargrove families who he always thanked immensely for helping.  Despite those circumstances, he was a smart young man and a survivor.  In 1958, at 16 years of age, he made his way to Upstate New York to earn money to send back to his parents and siblings.  He never stopped looking after them.  Indeed, Roy Jr. has always been concerned with the well-being of his younger siblings and even into their 70s continued to remind them to look out for each other. In 1965 during the Vietnam War, Leroy, 23 at the time, was drafted into the United States Army, 82nd Airborne Unit. From 1965 until 1967, he served as paratrooper, conducting 17 parachute jumps across Europe (primarily in Germany). In 1967 Roy Jr. became a member of the Army Reserves, where he dutifully served for another six years until he was honorably discharged in 1973.  Leroy's military service was a defining time that shaped his life-long identity. By the mid-sixties, Leroy had relocated to Boston, Massachusetts where he met Sue Ochs.  The two challenged the system and engaged in an interracial relationship that defied all societal norms of the time. In the later 60s, Leroy's first daughter was born, Danielle Lee Shepherd Ochs. In the early 70s, Leroy met and married the lovely Diane Shepherd and gained in laws Cheryl Mitchell Anderson, Frankie Mitchell, and the late Richard Mitchell. They have been married for more than 50 years. Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd had two children, Theresa Lee Shepherd and Diana Rae Shepherd.  Leroy doted on his three daughters imparting every piece of wisdom he had (and sharing it with them several times over (e.g., the managing Brigham's story, the working at Filenes story, the picking apples story, the walking to school story, the mowing lawns story, the how to cross the street story, etc.). Leroy was always a family man – family came first no matter what. Leroy was a hardworking and giving man no matter his resources.  For 30 years he worked as a service attendant on Amtrak on the Boston to Washington, D.C. route and made friends along the way (who he called "acquaintances").  He also met a host of other interesting people on the train, from celebrities to politicians, and had dozens of stories to tell and wisdom to impart about what he had learned about the nature of people.   He was a man of the people.  He loved hanging out in Mattapan Square near where his family lived on Itasca, in the South End where his acquaintances could be found, or in Cambridge where Danielle lived (busting her and her friends Danielle "Bimba Luna" Dupree and Pahada Hanscom smoking!).  Although he was a man of the people, and loved the street corner, he was not a man "of" the streets and never had run ins with the law, and never smoked, imbibed alcohol or consumed drugs.  He was a pure "thoroughbred," as he liked to refer to himself.  He always voted and cared deeply about the community and the nation.  In fact, for years, other than sports, his favorite TV program was C-Span – he wanted to see for himself exactly what Congress was doing. His whole adult-life, Leroy envisioned starting a Veteran's Parlor Car designed for Vets to get relief, respite and relaxation while playing a little pool.  He got a little closer to realizing his Parlor Car dream once he retired in early 2000s.  After Sue Ochs passed away in 2003, Leroy relocated to California with Danielle and her family.  By then, Danielle had two kids Micah Jamal Tillotson and Jada Imani Tillotson.  He also became a surrogate grandfather ("Grandpa Leroy") to Danielle's youngest sister Hannah Sorelle Marr Ochs, as well as to Skylar Tillotson, Noni Galloway, and Taj Moore.  Grandpa Leroy was indispensable to Micah, Jada and Hannah – driving them to school, sneaking them KFC and Mickey D's, and attending every basketball game. Grandpa Leroy finally formed his Veteran's Parlor Car nonprofit and put together a board composed of Valerie Wiggins, Earl Elzy and Marcus Tartt.  They'll never know how important their participation was to him.  Most of the time, you could find him in his "office" – the window seat at the Fruitvale/MacArthur Mickey D's - eating a mickity mac and a vanilla shake.  You might also find him out in the street, recycling cans or participating in the weekly neighborhood trash clean up. While Grandpa Leroy (or "Pop-Pop" which his grandkids also called him) was happy in California, he never stopped thinking about Boston and all his family here.  Pop-pop look forward to visits from Diana, Theresa and Theresa's kids Gregory Shepherd, Caine Lindsey, Larry Banks, Little Theresa Robinson, and Kalel Robinson, and Diana's kids Dejah Jury and Eva Jury.  While he never had a son (just some bossy daughters . . .), he had a few sons by marriage who were very special to him, including Eddie Jury, Chatch Sirisuth, Charles David Tillotson, Kenny McClain, and George Tucker.  He was also blessed to live long enough to meet his great grandkids, Ty Tillotson, Sage Sirisuth, Laiyori Banks, Xio Jury, and Gia Tillotson. More recently, Leroy began to explore his faith more deeply and became a member of Allen Temple Baptist Church where he lived in Oakland, California.  He treasured his church family, as well as his family at Lake Park (Akili and Patrica and friends) and extended family/friend base, including Linda and Wendell Jones, Pat Sirisuth, Joi Micheaux, Valerie Wiggins, Cynthia Zecic, Darlene, Julius and many more.  When Leroy became ill, he moved back to Boston to spend more time with the family he had missed. And in his last few months, Leroy grew to rely heavily on Diana, Eddie, Dejah, Eva, and his wife Diane. Eileen Duggan and his new friends who extended caregiving were truly indispensable.

Nothing meant more to Leroy than family, community, and faith. He will be missed by all he touched.