VYONNE SHEPPARD obituary

Vyonne (Brennan) Sheppard, 77, died in Havre, Mont., on June 10, as a result of a hemorrhagic stroke which occurred at her Fort Benton home on June 5.

After hospitalization in Great Falls, Vyonne was moved to the Care & Comfort Home in Havre.

Cremation has taken place. A memorial luncheon will be held at noon on Thursday, June 17, 2010, at Fifth Avenue Christian Church in Havre.

Vyonne was born in Renville County, Minn., on Jan. 6, 1933, to Leo and Lillie (Viken) Brennan.

Vyonne quit school at age 16.

She married Larry Max Sheppard in Harlem, Mont., in May 1954, and they had two sons, Larry Michael and Rick.

She and Larry divorced in 1972.

Vyonne worked for the Great Northern Railroad as an agent/ telegrapher for approximately 10 years. She got her GED at age 30. When the kids were grown, she started college and earned her associate of science and bachelor's

o f a r t s degree in four years, then took t h e f u l l eight years to obtai n her mast e r ' s i n b u s i n e s s administration degrees. Her feelings were that it is possible to get an education even after a poor start.

Vyonne was a real estate broker, and she had an obsession with buying properties such as older homes, apartments and duplexes and refurbishing them, as well as buying numerous personal and business ventures across Montana: Chinook (dress store), Havre (houses and Vyonne's Dress Shop), cabin at Fresno Lake (Sheppard's Bay), Kalispell, Columbia Falls (trailer court), Whitefish (real estate office with Larry Fonner), Coram (Great NW Emporium & Trading Post), Lincoln (Lincoln Lodge), Great Falls, Fort Benton and Lohman, even into Washington at one point and as far away as South Padre Island, Texas.

For the past eight years, while living in Texas during the winters, Vyonne taught English to the parents of the Mexican children at the Port Isabel School. In Fort Benton, she had worked for the Chamber of Commerce and this summer was volunteering as an education docent for the Missouri River Interpretive Center.

Vyonne had a knack for fixing up the interior of homes and making them very home-like.

But once the homes were completed, she had to move. Her family wished she could be content with just one home, completely remodeled, but that was never going to happen. As some have mentioned, Vyonne lived life the way she wanted to. She loved warm climates and beaches as well as dancing, Elvis, drinking Coke and crossword puzzles.

Vyonne was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her two sons, Larry (Helen) and Rick (Pam); and two grandchildren, Lance (Sara) and Bobby (Jenne) all of Havre, and many cousins and all the friends she made throughout her life.

Memorials can be made to Care & Comfort Home in Havre, Bear Paw Hospice or to the charity of one's choice.