
Christian Brother Reginald (Reg) Shepherd OAM has been remembered as a life-long friend and educator of the deaf community following his death aged 96.
Born in 1928 in Hamilton in New South Wales, Br Shepherd was the youngest child of Leo and Alice Shepherd and a member of the Christian Brothers for 80 years before passing into eternal life.
For 30 years he served Gabriel’s School for Boys, a boarding school for primary and junior secondary deaf students, in Castle Hill (now St Gabriel’s School).
Devasted by news of the suicide of a former student, Br Shepherd decided to do more for the adult members of the deaf community and later left the school he loved to acquire degrees in counselling and social welfare.
He started a small centre for the deaf named the Edmund Rice Centre and was foundational to the establishment of the Ephpheta Centre in Punchbowl.
While continuing to teach students as a catechist he also supported adult deaf people by visiting them in their homes, courtrooms, jails, hospitals, psychiatric centres, and nursing homes.
He visited many deaf communities internationally and was also a consultant and workshop facilitator in Papua New Guinea, India, North Africa and Vietnam.
At his funeral in St Mary’s Church, Concord, on 22 January, eulogies were given by Br Shepherd’s niece Lesley Alagna, who described her uncle as “a saint,” and Br Tony Whelan cfc.
Br Whelan explained that Br Shepherd continued in a volunteer capacity after retiring from working at the Ephpheta Centre in 2002,
His commitment to the deaf community as teacher, counsellor and friend had been “total” he said.
“Reg operated out of a deep spirituality. Much in tune with the charism of Bl Edmund Rice he sought to liberate others out of education,” Br Whelan explained.
“He sought to help the deaf to free up their gifts and bring them to the wider society.
“He declared that because of the wonderful sense of unity that he found among the deaf people, he took his motto from Jesus’ prayer at the last supper, ‘That all may be one.’
Also in attendance at the Mass were Fr Jim Carty and Fr Garry Reynolds SM, representing the Marist Fathers on behalf of Br Reg’s brother the late Fr Keith Shepherd SM.
Speaking to The Catholic Weekly via an Auslan interpreter, former director of the Ephpheta Centre Stephen Lawlor said he met “Br Reg” when he was a child on his first day at St Gabriel’s in 1957 and he quickly became one of his favourite teachers, along with the late Br Gerald McGrath cfc.
“I had more career options because of them. Br Reg introduced to me to my first employer straight from school and I ended up getting my trade and staying there for 40 years,” he said.
“They both spent a lot of time educating employers because many had never been exposed to deaf people before.
“Br Reg said that instead of teaching the deaf community, the deaf community had taught him.
“He had a good sense of humour, was always fair, never selfish and always inclusive.
“He took time to talk to us and try to understand what it meant to be a deaf person. He was immersed in the deaf community and the deaf community loved him for it.”
Ephpheta Centre business manager Liz Mcdowell said she admired Br Shepherd’s extraordinary loyalty to the former “St Gabriel’s Boys” and their families, and his concern for the most marginalised and those in difficulty.
“When I started working at Ephpheta I was still a bit new and scared and I remember Reg reassuring me and he said that the deaf community taught him how to love,” she said.