In Loving Remembrance of Glenn Shepherd ('40)

[SUSAN J. SILVESTRI]

Geologist, activist Glenn Shepherd dies at home, 86

WAILUKU — Friends and family are mourning the loss of Wailuku resident Glenn Shepherd, remembered as a community activist, geologist and all-around funny guy.

Shepherd, 86, died on Tuesday at his residence of pancreatic cancer.

“He was such an outstanding person and outstanding human being,” said Council Member Michelle Anderson.

Anderson said Shepherd would regularly share information with her and was always available if she needed counseling on any issues.

She said she loved Shepherd “like a father.”

“It’s hard to find someone that cares so much about the direction our county is taking. Even in his declining years, he always made that a priority,” she said.

Dick Mayer, fellow community activist and former teaching colleague of Shepherd at Maui Community College, said Shepherd was a “great person to be around.”

“He was very concerned for the environment of Maui and the future of Maui,” Mayer added.

He also remembers that Shepherd “had a wonderful sense of humor” expressed in his e-mailed messages.

Shepherd’s first of many crusades on Maui began in the 1970s seeking to deter the county from armoring the shoreline at Kalama Park. This was done in order to protect the bandstand, threatened by beach erosion.

Shepherd warned the county that if it saved the bandstand, it would destroy the beach, and events proved he was right.

Over the years, Shepherd testified numerous times before the Maui County Council and the Maui Planning Commission on a range of issues dealing with the environment and natural resources of the island.

His daughter, Diane Shepherd, a Kihei veterinarian and former outspoken member of the Maui Planning Commission, said her father was always optimistic and always encouraged her.

“He never stopped believing that citizens should determine public policy,” she said.

Even when her father was ill, Diane Shepherd said he went to testify before the county. His last public appearance as an advocate was last month.

She said that when her father was told the bad news he had cancer, he told the doctor “ ‘I can’t go yet, I have too much to do.’ ”

Glenn Shepherd had a doctorate in geology from the University of Hawaii. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees also in geology from UCLA.

During Diane’s childhood, the family lived in South America for 10 years, with Glenn doing his geology work.

While working as a petroleum geologist in South America, he discovered a large deposit of frozen methane hydrates under the sea floor off Peru. The existence of these mysterious deposits was totally unsuspected. Shepherd’s find was only the second discovery.

He moved to Maui in the 1970s after living on Oahu and taught physical geography at Maui Community College with Mayer, who taught cultural geography.

In 1980, he went to Southeast Asia and back into the oil business before eventually returning to Maui where he kept his Wailuku home.

“He loved Maui, that’s why he kept fighting,” Diane Shepherd said.

“This is a sudden tragedy that will take a long time to get over,” Anderson said.

He was the “epitome of the well-informed concerned citizen” that would always share his knowledge, she said.

“He was always encouraging to me when I went out on a limb and was feeling the stings of arrows. It’s hard to consistently fight the status quo,” she said. “He was always there to encourage me and compliment me on my efforts and encouraging me to keep it up.”

Geologists with his background are in short supply in the booming oil business, and last year he was offered $100,000 a year to go back to work in Saudi Arabia. He turned it down.

But he kept up with the latest research in all areas of geology, including climate. He was a skeptic about global warming but a believer in “peak oil,” the idea that the maximum output of oil has been or is about to be reached, after which the world will have less and less petroleum.

Glenn Shepherd is also survived by his wife, Shirley; a son, Anthony D. (Gloria) Shepherd; and three grandchildren.

Services have not been announced. Borthwick Norman’s Mortuary is assisting with arrangements.

Donations may be made to the Sierra Club Foundation, Maui Group Account, 85 Second St. Suite 750, San Francisco, Calif. 94105 or the World Wildlife Fund, 1250 24th St. NW, P.O. Box 96555, Washington, D.C., 20077-7760.