Merita Joyce Shepard

Graveside funeral services for Merita Joyce Shepard, age 78, will be held at 2:00 P.M. Thursday, April 4, 2024, at Bethlehem Baptist Church Cemetery. Rev. Matthew Haywood will officiate.

Mrs. Shepard was born on January 13, 1946, in Dalton, Georgia. She was a kennel master for the humane society in Tallahassee, Florida before moving to Laurens County, Ga., and worked as an LPN, retiring at the Dublinair Nursing Home. She was a cosmetologist, an animal lover and an avid gardener. She was preceded in death by her parents, Henry and Margarite Larkin Huggins and her husband, Owen Monroe Shepard, Jr. Mrs. Shepard passed away on Monday, April 1, 2024, at her residence.

She is survived by her daughter, Regina Lynn Shepard (Owen Shadowens) of Murfreesboro, TN; sisters, Brenda Butz of Palm Bay, FL and Iris Bryson of St. Simons Island; brother-in-law, Larry Shepard (Vickie) of East Dublin and several nieces and nephews.

Pallbearers will be Scott Shepard, Matt Shepard, Eric Shepard, and David Wilkes.

Flowers will be accepted, or donations may be made to your local animal shelter.

Stanley Funeral Home and Crematory/Dublin Chapel has charge of funeral arrangements.