Jon E Shepardson

Jon Edward Shepardson was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on April 4, 1939 to parents Marshall and Octavia Shepardson. Jon attended Antioch college in Ohio, then served in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War where he was an EW (electronics warfare) officer on the B52 bomber. After the war he was stationed at Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Michigan where he attained the rank of captain and met his wife, Kathy. After his military service, Jon settled for several years in Alabaster, Michigan where he worked for U.S. Gypsum as a mining engineer. He and Kathy had two daughters during this time, Erica and Janine, who were both born in Tawas City, Michigan. Jon enjoyed flying small aircraft, and he owned sailboats while living on Lake Huron and spent many happy days sailing on the lakes and on Tawas Bay. Jon was transferred to Southern California in 1975 and moved the family to El Centro. In 1976 Jon was offered a job with 3M Company in their Corona, California roofing materials plant. He and Kathy purchased a home and had a third child, their son, Marshall. The family still lives in this home and Jon worked at the 3M mining plant until retirement. Jon was a man of great faith and dedicated much of his time and talents to the Catholic church, where he served as a choir member and sometimes director at both St. Mary Magdalene and St. Matthews churches. After retirement he became part of the SOS (Serving our Seniors) Ministry at St. Matthews. He led Roman Catholic services as part of this ministry at Corona Care Center and Corona Post Acute for many years. Outside of the Church and his family, Jon had a passion for moving vehicles of all kinds: airplanes, boats, cars, and trains. He built an impressive model train display in one of the bedrooms of the house and had both HO and N gauge trains complete with intricate cities full of collectible homes to scale, bridges and water towers of balsawood he made by hand as well as painted mountain and desert landscape backdrops. He was a fan of baseball, especially the Boston Red Sox and the California Angels, and music of many genres, including Classical artists like Mozart and Handel, folk artists like the Kingston Trio and Simon and Garfunkel, and choral groups as well as barbershop quartets. During college he had a fascination with UFO sightings of which he kept a journal and could tell gripping stories about otherworldly experiences and youthful memories that fascinated his children and grandchildren. He loved to sing to his children during their younger years, old and little-known songs that they now cherish. In recent years his sight was severely affected by macular degeneration, but he would still attend Mass daily via televised services and would listen to baseball. He maintained contact with his sisters on the East Coast through email and was involved in his ministry by collaboration with colleagues throughout the pandemic. Jon passed away on December 19, 2020 in Corona, California and is survived by his wife, three children, sisters, and five grandchildren. He valued God, family, and friends, and he will be greatly missed. In lieu of flowers the family asks you make donations to Peppermint Ridge; 825 Magnolia Ave, Corona, CA 92879 or to Disabled American Veterans; dav.org. Cemetery Riverside National Cemetery 22495 Van Buren Blvd Riverside, CA 92518 Thursday 1/20, 12:00 pm