Red Bank Native, Christopher Sheppard, Dies in Train Accident at 58

Red Bank native Christopher David Sheppard, railroad engineer, musician, photographer, astronomer, husband and father, was struck and killed by a train after he was called to perform inspection work for Bay Area Rapid Transit near Walnut Creek, California. He was 58.

Born on December 6, 1954 to Sylvester Thomas Sheppard and Lorraine Cecere in Red Bank, Chris entered the railroad industry as a trackman for Amtrak shortly after his high school graduation. 

He became an expert in track safety and maintenance, retired from Amtrak as assistant division engineer, and joined BART in 2011. A lifelong self-teacher, Chris filled his home with guitars, gadgets, cameras, and telescopes, and he loved to share what he learned with everyone around him. 

He is survived and loved by: his wife, Barbara; his two children, Christopher and Amanda; and his eleven sisters, Patricia Rainville, Sharon Sheppard, Lorraine Sheppard, Sandra Ford, Joanne Rudow, Carolyn Dominguez, Audrey Phillips, Pamela, Leatrice, Teresa, and Jacklyn Preston, who deeply miss him and his photos of the stars

Christopher will be reposing at the Evergreen Memorial Funeral Home and Cremation Service 1735 Route 35, Middletown on Saturday, Oct. 26, from 7 to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. There will be a prayer service on Monday morning at 10 a.m. in the Funeral Home. Internment will then take place in Fairview Cemetery, Middletown.

* Obituary provided by Evergreen Memorial Funeral Home.