Lou Shepherd, a talented educator, contributor to worthy causes, and loving friend to many, died on Feb. 1, at St. Anne’s Hospital in Burien, Washington.

She was 91 years old.

Her death was caused by heart problems following surgery to repair a broken hip, after a fall at her daughter’s home on Vashon Island, Washington.

Her life’s trajectory, spanning the Great Depression into the new millennium, propelled her from her birthplace in rural, northeast Texas, across the Midwest. Her last 24 years were spent in Champaign, Illinois.

Lou was born in 1930, the fifth child of 42-year-old parents, Mary Bledsoe Johnson and Fred McCormick Johnson, of Clarksville, Texas. In their home, she learned all the intricate skills of the farmhouse kitchen, as well as how to knit, embroider and expertly sew her own garments.

Even as a young child, Lou rode her horse nine miles to attend school in town.

At age 16, she was valedictorian of her class at Clarksville High School and enrolled in Northwest Oklahoma State University, in Alva, Oklahoma, as a math and chemistry major. She graduated in 1951 — the same year she married classmate Richard E. (Dick) Shepherd. Their loving partnership lasted for almost four decades, until Dick’s death in 1988.

As newlyweds, they taught in Ashland, Kansas, where Lou made math class so fun that she still received fan mail from former students in the months before she died. Their memories brought her great joy. The growing family moved to Satanta, Kingman and then Topeka, Kansas.

After her children were in school, she returned to teaching and tutoring trigonometry and calculus. Her classroom management skills made her a highly sought-after substitute teacher in Topeka, Kansas high schools. As a math tutor, she gave many struggling students the hand up they needed to achieve academic success.

She was the mother of Cindy and Elizabeth Shepherd, born in 1956 and 1958, and a master of mid-century mothering — sewing their clothes, baking bread and providing an example of civic involvement in schools, church, service organizations and politics.

She supported her husband’s work for the Kansas National Education Association, hosting gatherings in their home and leading groups on summer “teacher tours” around the world.

After a move to Oklahoma City, she worked as executive assistant to her husband, who then directed a nonprofit organization for older Americans and later formed The Shepherd Company, a consultancy on issues of aging in America. During this period, Dick and Lou attended a reception at the White House for advocates in this area.

Throughout her life, Lou formed enduring friendships. She was a born networker: dynamic, charismatic and gregarious, brightening any social situation.

She was also an expert storyteller, with a sharp, sideways wit.

She had an abiding faith, a practice of daily prayer, and a strong moral code, first formed in the Presbyterian country church of her childhood. She served as one of the first women elders in her denomination, and supported her daughter, Cindy, as she pursued seminary and ordination. She knew the Presbyterian hymns by heart, and rose to sing them with gusto.

She also loved the written word and the arts, especially the theatrical, and inspired her daughter Elizabeth’s long career in arts enterprises and journalism.

Her life was framed by luminous generosity. She will forever shine on in the hearts of those who stepped into her bright light here on earth.

Lou is survived by her daughters, Cindy Shepherd, of Champaign, Illinois, and Elizabeth Shepherd, of Vashon, Washington, her sons-in-laws Tim Hartin and Tom Hughes; grandchildren Christian Reed (Lisa Reed), Rachel Reed (Andrew Klein), Caleb Reed, Ellie Hughes and Isaac Hughes; and great-grandchildren, Shepherd Reed and Wesley Reed. She was the honorary grandmama to Sean Hartin and her great-niece, Eryn Dollins. She was predeceased by her parents, brothers, sisters and husband.

A celebration of Lou’s life will take place in Champaign, Illinois. Donations in her memory may be made to the Richard E. and Lou J. Shepherd Scholarship of Northwest Oklahoma State University, which is given to aspiring teachers studying math, science and chemistry (ournorthwestern.org).