Steve Shepard

Steve Shepard died on September 15, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia, at the age of 75. Thomas Poteet and Son Funeral Directors announced the arrangements.

Visitation was scheduled for Sunday, September 27, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the funeral home on Davis Road. A celebration of life was set for Monday, September 28, at 2:00 p.m. at Trinity on the Hill on Monte Sano Avenue. Honorary pallbearers included members of his Sunday school class and the Lions Club. Guests were invited to wear red and black for Druid Hills, Davidson, and the University of Georgia.

Stephen Eugene Shepard was born in Atlanta on January 24, 1951, the son of Samuel Stephens Shepard Jr. and Doris Everitt Shepard. He graduated from Druid Hills High School in 1969 and from Davidson College in 1973.

He then attended the University of Georgia School of Law, earning his degree in 1976. That same year he moved to Augusta, beginning the legal career that would define his professional life.

Shepard practiced law in Augusta for nearly five decades. As a 50-year member of the Georgia Bar Association, he maintained a solo practice and served for many years as a named partner in multiple longstanding Augusta law firms.

Colleagues knew him as a lawyer who took the rule of law seriously and who stayed closely connected to the clients and community he served.

His legal work led into elected and appointed office in Augusta-Richmond County. Shepard served as an elected city councilman and county commissioner, as county attorney, and as a magistrate judge.

Across those roles he moved between the legislative, advisory, and judicial sides of local government, remaining a familiar figure to residents who followed city and county affairs.

Shepard joined the Augusta Lions Club in 1979 and later served several terms as its president. He remained active in the club for many years.

Friends remembered his generosity and his habit of turning acquaintances into friends, describing him as someone always willing to help others.

Steve and Kathie Mauldin Shepard married in 1973 and shared more than fifty years together. They raised three daughters, Brooke, Whitney, and Mallory, and delighted in six grandchildren.

He enjoyed golf, Georgia football, running, hiking, and travel. He created neighborhood traditions, including Halloween s'mores and a Christmas train around the tree, and took train trips across the United States with family and friends. He was an enthusiastic member of the Pairs and Spares Sunday school class at Trinity on the Hill.

According to his obituary, Shepard lived with Parkinson's disease for 25 years, facing its challenges with courage and perseverance. A friend remembered him as a hero who met tough challenges with grace.

In lieu of flowers, the family invited contributions to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.

Shepard left a record of nearly fifty years of legal practice and civic service in one Georgia city. Former colleagues, Lions Club members, and neighbors remembered both his professional seriousness and his everyday kindness.

His family asked that gifts in his memory support Parkinson's research, reflecting the long illness he met with persistence.