William “Bill” James Shepherd Jr., 89, died on Tuesday, August 29, 2023, at the Cedar Valley Hospice Home in Waterloo, IA. Bill was born in Carrollton, OH, on October 30, 1933, to Bill and Helen (Baker) Shepherd.

Bill is survived by his wife, Mary, and her sons, Wade Kainer of Iowa City, IA, and Bowen Kainer of Austin, TX; children, Ann Marie (Paul) Baransy of Ottawa, OH, Jeani Lynn (Max) Good of Fayetteville GA, Nola Rose (Jim) Quealy of Seal Beach, CA, and William James III (Kimberly) of Dublin, OH, and their mother, Diane Cole Duesenberg of Cedar Falls, IA; grandchildren, Kyle Good of Brooklyn, NY, Evan Good of Boulder, CO, Emily (Jacob) Hinsey of Fort Worth, IN, Natalie (Corey) Stewart of Fort Wayne, IN, William Shepherd IV of Philadelphia, PA, Lillian Shepherd of New Orleans, LA, and Evelyn Shepherd of Dublin, OH; sister, Betty Walters of Lexington, KY; and niece, Kathleen Robinson of Lexington, KY. He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Dorothy Horrigan.

Bill’s love of music as a child led to his life-long career — teaching, and his avocation — playing trombone. The two will be forever intertwined. After graduating from Carrollton High School, Bill earned his BA and MFA degrees in music from Ohio University. He served as high school band director at McConnelsville, Sandy Valley, Wellington and Wooster, producing outstanding concert bands which consistently received superior ratings in Ohio Music Educators competitions. His high school marching bands were featured at many college football games and presented special half-time programs at professional football games of the Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills, and Pittsburgh Steelers.

While teaching music in Ohio’s public schools, Bill was elected Ohio State Chairman of the American Band Directors Association and served on that group’s national executive board. He is a member of Phi Beta Mu, Phi Mu Alpha, Kappa Kappa Psi, Phi Kappa Lamda, International Trombone Association and other professional organizations affiliated with his teaching career.
Bill was Director of Bands at Findlay College, Findlay, Ohio, from 1969 to 1976. In 1970, he was selected as one of the top ten music educators in the United States and Canada by The School Musician, a professional music education publication.

The next year, he was one of the ten college band directors chosen by the College Band Directors National Association to conduct The United States Air Force Band at a conducting symposium in Ithaca, New York. In 1976, he was a featured soloist at the Music Educators National Conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C. Bill was selected to play in an All-American Band Masters presentation at the International Mid-West Band Clinic with Arthur Fiedler, then the Boston Pops Orchestra director.

From Findlay, he moved to Cedar Falls, Iowa, in 1976 to join the University of Northern Iowa, where he taught in the School of Music and directed the marching and symphonic band programs until 1991. He continued teaching at UNI until 2010 and chaired the General Studies area. In addition to evaluating student teachers, he taught such classes as Our Musical Heritage, Conducting, and Music Administration.

Bill started playing trombone in Carrollton Junior High School and by the time he entered Ohio University, he knew music would be his career. During college, he played with several popular musical groups. In 1958-59, he and his trombone spent a year “on the road” with the Tommy Dorsey/Warren Covington Orchestra, touring the U.S. and recording with the band in New York City. He left the touring group to return to his teaching job in the Ohio public school system. However, his love of Big Band music has remained with him. He played in the Chuck Bisgrove and Jack Runyan band for many years throughout Ohio and adjacent areas.

After he moved to Iowa, where there was a lack of groups playing big band music, he started the Bill Shepherd Big Band in 1979. The band quickly became the premier Big Band throughout Northeast Iowa, noted for the quality of the musicians and the authenticity of the musical charts. The Bill Shepherd Big Band recorded ‘Big Band Sounds,” in 1981, “Ballroom Memories,” in March 2003, “Christmas In Cedar Falls” in 2010, and “Christmastime” in 2013. Both Christmas albums feature vocalist, Nola Shepherd Quealy, Bill’s youngest daughter.
The Bill Shepherd Combo and Bill Shepherd’s “Red Hots” Dixieland Band, two groups that grew out of the Big Band, have frequently performed at public and private events, in addition to being featured at several Dixieland church services every year. Bill continued to share his musical talents at church, playing solos and in brass groups for special music programs throughout the year.

From 1984 to 2018 he conducted the Waterloo Community Concert Band, a 40-plus member group that presents weekly concerts during June and July. He co-founded and conducted the Iowa Trombones, a group of trombone players from throughout Iowa and beyond that has gathered annually to play ensembles and give a public performance.
Classical music was also a part of Bill’s life. He played in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra from 1976-2014. For many years, he was the symphony players’ representative on the board of directors and has served on two of the last three committees to select a new symphony conductor. Prior to this, he played with the Canton and Lima Symphonies (Ohio), with which he recorded a full-length solo LP of classical trombone solos.

Funeral services were held on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, at First United Methodist Church in Cedar Falls.

Memorials may be directed to First United Methodist Church or Cedar Valley Hospice. Online condolences may be left at www.richardsonfuneralservice.com.