Shepherd, Tom

Tom Shepherd was born October 6, 1927 in Waterloo, Iowa. He attended telegraphy classes at West Junior High and was employed by the Illinois Central Railroad at the age of fourteen. On his seventeenth birthday, Tom enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was able to use his telegraph skills for Uncle Sam. Tom joined the Waterloo Fire Department July 1, 1950, and retired as Captain after thirty-two years of service. During his time with the fire department, he expanded on the entrepreneurial skills of his youth by starting his own construction business, a real estate company, and an appraisal company. He...