Floyd D. Shepps died unexpectedly in his sleep on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023.
He was born on Oct. 14, 1952. He was the son of Roy and Vera Shepps nee Barnhard.
Floyd graduated from Lebanon High School in 1970. He immediately joined the U.S. Air Force. During his career, he married his childhood sweetheart, Dolly Rank, in 1978. While stationed overseas in Belgium in 1983, they had their daughter Holly Jo. Floyd retired after serving 20 years, making the rank of Senior Master Sergeant, and moved to his farm that he purchased in 1985 allowing himself plenty of time to start his next chapter.
Floyd was now at his happy place, living his dream. His farm and his land gave him so much pleasure. Early on, he gutted and completely renovated the old farmhouse. It took two years, and by that time, he needed a break. He worked for Meyer Oil, George Strohm’s, North Lebanon Township, and was a bus driver for Brightbill. He could be found on one of his many John Deere tractors, cutting grass. He spent a lot of time in the woods trimming trees, spraying weeds, and pond maintenance. All with the help of his right-hand man, Gary Berkheiser. Floyd was well-versed in weed identification and spent hours researching how to control and get rid of them.
His hobbies included his joy of living on the farm. He once loved hunting at his cabin in Tioga County. He loved listening to radio talk shows in the evening about financial issues with Dave Ramsey and Bruce Williams. He loved sitting out on the porch in the evenings with Dolly and talking about their day, drinking his Old Milwaukee Best and boxed Sangria. He loved researching topics on the internet for just about anything. Most of all, he loved sharing his wealth of information with family and friends.
He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Dolly; beloved daughter, Holly Corson (James); Gary Berkheiser (Kelsie), who he considered to be his son; mother-in-law, Betty Kessler; brothers, Dennis Shepps (Monica), Bruce Shepps (Patty), Barry Shepps (Marci), and Brian Shepps (Stacy); sister, Nancy Peffley (Donald); and brothers-in-law, Chuck Rank (Lori) and Sam Rank. He also had many nieces and nephews and lots of cherished friends.
Viewing will be held on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023 from 9:30-11 a.m. at Christman’s Funeral Home, Inc., 226 Cumberland St., Lebanon. Funeral services will be held on Thursday at 11 a.m. at the funeral home. Interment will be at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery following the service, with full military honors.
For more information, to offer condolences, or to order flowers, please go to www.christmansfuneralhome.com.