A Leitz CEYOO flash like the one I first bought from Ted
Toronto. When I joined the society in 1975, I met a charming person in Ted Shepherd. Ted sold me one of the first Leitz accessories I ever bought – a fancy B-C flash that connected to my M4.
The following year Ted became president of the Toronto branch of the PHSC (1976-1979). I can still hear his piercing whistle to call members from the vendor tables around the hall (North York Library Auditorium) to sit and hear the speaker of the evening.
In those early dates we didn’t always photograph people and events clearly. In issue 20-1 the late Bill Belier wrote a brief obit for Ted who died March 7, 1994. The picture Bill/Ev used is not suitable for this post so I used an image of a CEYOO flash like the one I bought from Ted.
The obit is as follows: “Ted Shepherd, one of oldest and most devoted members, died in Markham, Ontario on March 7th. In the early years of the Society, Ted was a familiar face and active participant at most of our activities.
“He gave generously of his time at the display booth we once had at the Canadian National Exhibition, he was a Past President of the Photographic Historical Society of Metropolitan Toronto, and a model builder of exceptional talent (See Photographic Canadiana, Vol 12, No. 1 (May-June 1986) ‘Daguerreotype camera replica’.)
“Most of our older members will remember Ted in terms of being a ‘photographic buff‘, but he was a man of many talents and had other interests. In the 1920s-30s, he played with well-known Toronto dance bands as a professional musician. During the war, he worked on the R.A.F. Mosquito bomber project at Downsview.
“He became one of the leading Canadian authorities on antique telephones, and he was both President and Secretary of the Telephony Society of Canada. In later years Ted became interested in clocks and timepieces and restored several fine examples of early craftsmanship.
“Ted retired from the Robert Simpson Company in 1979 after a long career in the jewellery department, and later in the executive offices.
“When I reflect on the forty-seven years that I have known Ted, I seem to dwell more on his personality than on his accomplishments. Ted was a soft-spoken, very kind man, with tolerance and understanding for others that can only be described as a virtue. It was my privilege to be called his friend.
“Ted is survived by his two daughters, Vivian and Virginia, their husbands and his two beloved grandsons. His wife, Phyllis predeceased him in 1983.
Bill Belier
