I was surprised and humbled to receive a phone call in December of 2020 notifying me that I had been inducted into the Summerville High School Hall of Fame. It was a treat to know that someone on the committee, or in the nomination process, would possibly remember that goofy kid from 1988, and to think that I had made a mark enough to be thought of in such high regard.
Summerville High School changed my life. I came from very humble beginnings, raised by two young parents who had never graduated from high school. My mom was 15 when she had my older brother Brian, and turned 17 5 days after giving birth to me. A second marriage and 3 more siblings came along before the age of 22, and you can understand what a struggle that must have been for all of us.
When I enrolled at Summerville High School halfway through my 9th-grade year, it was at least the 16th school I had attended since kindergarten. The effort put in by so many people in that unique community to allow me to attend is nothing short of a miracle. My freshman year, we moved to Sonora, and I would get up at 5 a.m. to meet Mrs. Almae Courtney at a coffee shop off the main Street in downtown Sonora, where she would drive me and my brother to Summerville Elementary, arriving by 6 a.m. We would stay in the cafeteria doing homework, watching the VHS of We Are The World 100’s of times that year! We would take the early bus up to the high school, and I would kill time before that first class shooting hoops in the gym. Mrs. Courtney became my biggest fan, showing up at all our games, and went above and beyond, playing the parent role at award nights and recognizing the potential in me. She was an ambassador for Summerville High School, paving the way for an experience that would never have happened without her generosity.
Summerville High School became a sanctuary for me, filled with opportunities and experiences that I took full advantage of. During my 3.5 years there, I was lucky enough to serve as ASB President, Junior Class President, Yearbook Editor, Academic Decathlon Participant, Football announcer, represented Summerville High School at Boys State, and even joined the Honor Choir as a senior!
My big passion was basketball, and in my four years at Summerville, I was named First Team All Mother Lode League in 1987 and 1988 and led the M.L.L. In scoring my final two years. I was lucky enough to play for Coach Marlen Ronten, and a bunch of teammates older and younger who made me tougher, and competitive and set a high bar for me to aspire to. Coach Wingo and Coach Epperly spent hours after school beating me up in good games of full court 1 on 1, and I spent many nights sleeping on the wrestling mats and waking up to shoot for an hour or two before class. At night and on the weekends, sometimes I would slide into the old gym through the windows at the top of the ceiling, shimmy down the pipes to the basketball supports, slide down and drop to the floor, and then let my buddies in for hours of indoor hoops. When Coach Ronten found out about it at the end of my junior year, he slipped me a key…probably saved me from breaking my neck!
I think the longer I live, the more I appreciate the experiences and people at Summerville High School, it is a special place where we were supported, challenged, taught, inspired, and loved. So many teachers chipped in to get me on my way and off to college: Wayne DeGennaro introduced me to the idea of going to college, opened my eyes to possibilities, and tutored me through the application process. Coach Shaw and Karen Shaw saw promise in me, Mrs. Heldstab in the office bought me my first shirt and tie for the senior awards night, and she was so crucial in being a caring adult. Coach Ronten, Coach Heldstab, Coach Epperly, and Coach Wingo helped me grow and mature as a young man and an athlete. Dennis Wong and Dave Urquhart in administration helped build a culture that cannot be replicated.
Today, I am the proud father of three successful daughters, Sydney, Madison, and Candace, and two grandsons, Emmett and Harrison. I have the privilege of spending my free time with a kind and beautiful companion, Tina Williams, and own a small business doing wealth management for individuals in the greater Seattle Area, Haller and Shepard Capital Group. My youngest, Sydney, played basketball for the University of San Diego for four years, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business, and works as a recruiter for Aya Healthcare. My middle daughter, Madison, graduated from San Diego State University and is currently enrolled in her first semester of a Masters in Nursing program at Azusa Pacific University. My oldest, Candace, is a Paramedic Firefighter for the city of Lake Oswego in the Portland Oregon suburbs.
Because of the inspiration I received at Summerville, I went on to play four years of college basketball, and I spent 27 years coaching basketball; 7 as a High School Varsity Head Boys Coach , and 7 Years as a Varsity Head Girls Coach. I transitioned to club coaching after my youngest graduated, and I was fortunate enough to coach my daughters to the Washington high school state final 8 in 2014. I have helped more than 30 young men and women go on to play collegiate basketball, 22 of them at the Division I level.
I graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA with a B.A. in Sociology, and received my M.A. from Seattle Pacific University, but my learning foundation was right here at Summerville.
Cheers,
Cory Shepard