Man honors father by filling term on East Dublin council

The son of a former East Dublin city councilman was used to taking his father to his meetings.

And when John Sheppard passed away last October at the age of 90, his son Rob thought his time going to those meetings was over. That did not turn out to be the case.

“The mayor came to me and asked me if I would be interested in running out the two years of his term,” Rob said. “I thought, ‘What better way to honor him than to do that,’ so I agreed. I know I have big shoes to fill.”

On Dec. 1, Rob was sworn in by Superior Court Judge Trey Taylor.  His daughter, Jessica, was on hand from Kentucky to see her father’s special occasion.

“My main reason for doing this was to honor my dad,” Rob said. “I knew he would probably be proud on stepping in and keeping this going for him.”

East Dublin Mayor George Gornto knew Rob was looking after his parents and had seen him bring John to their meetings. Rob would sit out in the audience and listen to the details of what was happening in the city of East Dublin.

“John was an icon over here in East Dublin,” Gornto said. “He was in recreation, and this was his second term as a councilman. He was a councilman 50 years ago. He has been here and paid his dues.”

So when it came time to fill John’s seat, Gornto and the City Council did not look far for his replacement.

“It seemed this would be a fitting tribute to John,” Gornto said. “We asked Rob, he accepted it and it fell right into place. Rob knew what had been going on since he had been sitting through the meetings. We talked about it as a council and decided he would be the best choice. I think he’s going to make a great councilman.”

Gornto also likes the fact that Rob is younger than the other council members.

“He has gotten into the meetings with us, and it looks like he is enjoying it,” Gornto said. “He is a good person. He has to be John and Ruby Sheppard’s son.”

John is a member of Gethsemane Church. He had moved to Florida for about 20 years before moving back to East Dublin in August 2021 to help take care of his mother – and, later, his father. 

In a few weeks, Rob will travel to Athens for some council training. His plan is to make the city of East Dublin the best that it can be.

“When my dad passed away, I had neighbors tell me that they hoped I would run and get his spot,” Rob said. “They are concerned about the city, and they will call me. I feel like I can get some information to the council from regular citizens’ points of views.”

He is getting used to being a councilman instead of an audience member. Rob is employed by Publix in Bonaire. He has been in management all his life and was an operations manger for a produce company in Florida.

“I’ve had kind of a leadership role my whole life,” Rob said. “I feel like that can bring something to the table.” 

When it comes to the end of this two-year term, Rob will see how he feels then about running for office.

“Two years seems like a long time, but it’ll be over before I know it,” he said. “My mom is in pretty good shape and I’m looking after her. We’ll see how it goes. … When my father passed away, it never occurred to me that I would get a call from George to think about this. I thought it was a good way to honor my father. My dad really put his heart and soul into this town his whole life. Hopefully, I can make him proud.”