The family of Dundee hockey stalwart James ‘Jim’ Shepherd have paid tribute to their beloved husband, father and grandfather, who died suddenly at home aged 87.
Jim was known to entertain friends and neighbours with stories of his rich life, which began in Dundee on May 6 1937, as the only child of Mary and Eck Shepherd.
Jim’s early childhood was spent at 28 Forest Park Road, where against the backdrop of the Second World War, he played with friends, attended Blackness Primary school and then moved on to Logie for his secondary schooling.
After school, he became an apprentice draughtsman for city firm Bonar Long, and this trade saw him on solid footing for the rest of his working life, which he spent at NIFES and what was Angus District Council.
Well into his teenage years, Jim was a member of the Gilfillan Memorial Boy’s Brigade, 26th Company.
It was at the 100th Anniversary of the Boy’s Brigade International Camp that Jim had the opportunity to play hockey on the fields at Eton College.
Here, his love of hockey was born – a love that would last a lifetime, and earn him the monikers of ‘Mr Hockey’ and ‘Mr Wanderers’.
Lifelong passion for Dundee’s ‘Mr Hockey’
Then while working at Bonar Long, Jim was asked to take part in a hockey match to make up numbers. The game went well and Jim was hooked.
Soon, he became a member of the Dundee Wanderers.
Preferring to use his talents off the pitch, he took on various roles between the Wanderers and Linlathen teams, including umpire, treasurer and secretary.
At home on an evening, Jim could often be found in his chair in the corner of the living room, scribbling notes about matches or sending off his hockey reports to The Courier or The Evening Telegraph.
Hockey, for Jim, was truly a lifelong love, and one he passed on to his children and grandchildren.
But the most important love of his life was a woman he almost never met.
A love story which started in the Palais
Jim was intending to go home on Tuesday February 26 1962, when he decided to stop by the Palais.
Student teacher Joyce Smith hadn’t planned to go dancing that evening either, she was only there to chaperone some younger girls. But Jim asked her to dance, and she was charmed by his gentle manner.
The pair were married on July 16 1964 in Leven Forman Church, and spent 60 happy years together having “fun times and other times, but all times we got through”.
From the day they moved into their first house on Nelson Street, where son Gordon joined the family, through their move to Grove Road in Broughty Ferry, where daughter Pamela completed the household, Jim made a breakfast of cereal or toast each and every day for Joyce from his retiral.
Reserved and undemonstrative, he did not express his emotions or “go all gaga” often, but was deeply devoted to his wife and children, as well as his daughter-in-law Helen and late son-in-law Bruce.
He even had a soft spot for all the various cats and dogs which “adopted” the family over the years.
When he became a grandfather, Jim embraced the role, and was popular with grandchildren Nicci, Lauren, Catriona, Sarah and Max.
And he was “thrilled and stunned” at the arrival of his great-granddaughter Lavender in 2023.
Jim’s whisky cabinet renowned in the Ferry
Jim’s whisky cabinet, an extensive collection from his travels and gifts, was his other pride and joy. He enjoyed sharing a nip with guests and was generous with his pours.
He wanted The Wanderers to be shut in the dining room when he died and not allowed out until they had drunk the rest of his remaining collection. Unfortunately, the family discovered many of the bottles were empty but still remained in their boxes.
At home, he kept a lively fruit and vegetable patch. And he often made his own fruit wines, with banana wine being a particular favourite among the family.
And even after saying goodbye to Jim at a service at Dundee Crematorium on June 19 2024, the family are still waiting to open his last bottle of berry wine, made by a busy man who “could never sit still”.
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