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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (March 17, 1995)
ju st o u t ▼ m arch 1 7 . 1 0 0 9 ▼ 13 Role m odel o f parental lo v e A March 31 memorial will honor a fatherly advocate for lesbian and gay rights ▼ by Inga Sorensen Shepherd was bom July 25, 1913, in Portland. regon has lost one of its most pas He graduated from the University of Oregon and sionate advocates for gay and lesbian the University of Oregon Law School. During civil rights. Portland attorney Will World War II, he served as an infantry major and iam K. Shepherd, co-founder of the fought in the Battle of the Bulge. In 1944, he state chapterof Parents, Families and married Ann Marcotte Friends of Lesbians and and opened a legal Gays, died March 9 of practice in Portland. leukemia and complica The Shepherds be tions of a stroke. came active in the gay The 81-year-old and lesbian commu Shepherd, along with his nity in the mid-1970s wife, Ann, are known not after their daughter, only for their public sup Susie, came out to port for their two lesbian them as a lesbian. In daughters, but for gay 1975, Ann testified men and lesbians across before a state legisla Oregon. tive committee consid “They have been a role ering the second gay model of parental love and lesbian rights bill. and support to their les Soon after, the couple bian daughters—and to co-founded a Parents thousands of adopted’ of Gays group, which gay and lesbian Kids over in 1982 affiliated with the years. Their passion the international orga for justice is reflected in nization now known as their belief that only Parents, Families and through education, often Bill Shepherd with his wife, Ann Friends of Lesbians one-on-one, do people and Gays. During Portland’s Lesbian and Gay exchange their bigotry for a heart of love and Pride celebration in 1977, Susie and her parents acceptance,” says Jeff Rose, Mr. Portland Leather were featured on the front page of The Oregon 1993, who experienced the Shepherd’s warmth Journal (then Oregon’s evening daily newspaper). and acceptance firsthand. “Bill’s zealous practice That same year the Shepherds were the only par of law has guided and protected so very many of us ents to be featured on a KATU Town Hall program over the years [and] Ann’s kitchen table has been about gay men and lesbians. the healing place for countless people of all ages,” As elders at Portland’s First Presbyterian says Rose. O G G I F T S R FOR Church, Bill and Ann participated in discussions about gay- and lesbian-related issues with clergy and Christian educators in a precedent-setting con ference held by the Presbytery of the Cascades in 1981. Additionally, Shepherd organized the Legal Resource Committee of the Portland Town Coun cil, which was Oregon’s first umbrella organiza tion serving the legal, political, educational and social needs of sexual minorities. Portland Town Council spawned the creation of Right To Privacy PAC, Phoenix Rising, and Cascade AIDS Project. In the mid-1970s, Bill led the charge to stop what many viewed as the entrapment of gay men in Portland by law enforcement officials; he was also willing to write wills and perform other legal services for gay and lesbian couples during a time when few attorneys would make themselves avail able. The Shepherds, who received Right To Privacy’s Lucille Hart Award in 1985 for their work on behalf of gay and lesbian rights, cel ebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last No vember. Bill is survived by his wife; daughters Sally Hyde of Gallup, N.M., Susie and Jean of Portland, Jenniferof New York, and Kathryn of Aloha; three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at noon on March 31 at Portland’s First Presbyterian Church. The family suggests remembrances be contribu tions to the Bill and Ann Shepherd Legal Scholar ship Fund, care of the Equity Foundation, PO Box 5696, Portland, 97228. The scholarship will be awarded to third-year law students who are attend ing Oregon schools and are dedicated to practicing human-rights law in the state. Phoenix Rising Foundation founder dies “It’s my understanding that John lost two or three friends to suicide because they were having a tough time dealing with their sexual orientation,” explains Phoenix Rising Executive Director Allanya Guenther. “He founded Phoenix Rising using $30,0(X) from his own practice. This was something that was very important to John and Warren, and they continued to provide significant support to the agency over the years.” Guenther, who has headed up Phoenix Rising for about eight months, adds: “I’m sorry to say that I did not personally know John Abele, but I believe that he and Warren, who had been together for 35 years, had an extremely nurturing and supportive relationship. Their relationship is an inspiration to others.” In addition to James, Abele’s survivors include his daughter, Judith Baker, and son, John C., and two granddaughters, all of Portland. Guenther says Phoenix Rising will hold a ban quet honoring Abele on June 15 at the Portland Hilton. Remembrances may be made to Phoenix Rising Foundation or the Alzheimer’s Associa tion, Columbia-Willamettc Chapter. For more in formation about the June ceremony, contact Phoe nix Rising at 223-8299. Inga Sorensen Dr. John F. Abele, a founder of Phoenix Rising Foundation, a Portland counseling center serving the needs of the sexual minority community, died Jan. 24 at the age of 85. Abele, who was bom in 1909, followed in his father’s footsteps by graduating from the Univer sity of Oregon Medical School and serving in the U.S. Army. After his military service, the younger Abele set up private practice in Portland. He was on the staff of Good Samaritan Hospital and other area hospitals and was a clinical professor and professor emeritus of orthopedic surgery at Or egon Health Sciences University. Abele also was the first director of the Oregon Crippled Children’s Program, and a member of the board of directors of the (now-defunct) Portland Town Council, an early gay and lesbian organiza tion that spawned the creation of Phoenix Rising and Right To Privacy, Oregon’s largest gay and lesbian political organization. Abele married Doris Hope Gramm in 1934. The couple separated in 1957. 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