Donald Robert Shepan

Donald Robert Shepan, 77, passed away January 17, 2015 at The Village at Northrise Memory Care Unit . He was born on November 25, 1937 in Springfield, Illinois. His early childhood was spent in Decatur, Illinois and in 1951 his family moved to Los Alamos, NM where his father worked at Los Alamos National Labs. Don considered himself privileged to be able to live in Los Alamos when it was still a "closed city". After high school graduation, he attended NMSU in Las Cruces, NM and obtained his bachelor's degree in mathematics while also working at the Physical Science Laboratory. He also worked at Los Alamos National Labs during the summers. He was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. While at NMSU he met and married Eugenia (Genia) Holcomb in 1960 and their two children, Dennis & Debbie were born and raised in Las Cruces. Don taught math at Las Cruces High School for four years until a summer job at WSMR turned into a 30 year career. At WSMR, Don worked for Army Material Test & Evaluation and then at the High Energy Laser Site. He also served as the president of the Rio Grande Chapter of the American Defense Preparedness Association. Don had many interests during his life, including working on old cars (he considered them all to be classics), hunting, fishing and of course running, which was his passion. He was also a licensed ham radio operator (KB5VLH). Don began running in the mid 1970's and soon began running with members of the Mesilla Valley Track Club and entering 5K and 10K runs. Don continued to train and completed nine marathons during his running career. Genia attended the events and soon became race director of one of them. After helping her with an event, they started organizing events together as a team. For over 25 years, Don and Genia were race directors of numerous running events. Don became a Regional certified measurer for USA Track & Field to certify courses for running events both locally and at the Olympic level. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Eugenia; son Dennis and his wife, Karen of Las Cruces; daughter Debbie McNutt and her husband, Craig of Lafayette, Colorado; grandsons Mason McNutt, Grant McNutt and granddaughter Grace McNutt; sister Norma Karlowski of Decatur, Illinois; brother Richard and his wife Patti of Las Cruces; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents Henry A. and Helen M. Shepan, and brother-in-law Robert Karlowski. A memorial service will be held at Getz Funeral Home, 1410 E. Bowman Ave, Las Cruces, NM 88001 on Friday, January 23, 2015 at 10:00 am. Runners/walkers and volunteers from MVTC events are encouraged to wear a commemorative shirt from any of the events and running shoes are also welcome. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to either: SW Parkinson's Society 3610 22nd St, Suite 300 Lubbock, TX 79410 Alzheimer's Association New Mexico Chapter 125 N. Main St. Las Cruces, NM 88001 PDF Printable Version