Mr. Shepherd

Mr. Shepherd was the father of Derek, Nancy, Kathleen, Liz, and Amelia with his wife, Carolyn.

Early Life
He met his wife on the dance floor. They saw each other and they immediately knew they wanted to be together.

Death
He was apparently a loving husband and father. He owned a shop and was killed by two men who attempted to steal his money and his watch. He refused because his watch was a gift from his wife and one of the men killed him by shooting him. Two of his children, Derek, who was around 12 or 13, and Amelia, 5, were there, and it was Derek who was first to see his dad dead.

After His Death
Years later, his death is still difficult for his family. His wife always sleeps on her side of the bed, never his even though the mattress is extremely uneven. Derek hates murderers and has difficulty dealing with this kind of patient, as he is still very angry about his dad's death. Amelia has problems with drugs which are related to her father's death.

The story of his death is told by his son in one episode of Grey's Anatomy and by his daughter, Amelia, in one episode of Private Practice. The fact that Amelia and Derek were the two who saw their father die created conflict between them because they didn't talk about it until they were adults.

After his death, Amelia was afraid of all loud noises. To get over this fear, she bought firecrackers and set them off until she wasn't afraid anymore.

Notes and Trivia

 * He loved to give pennies to his daughter Amelia when she was a child.
 * He is the father of 5 doctors, including one psychiatrist and two neurosurgeons.
 * He has at least 17 grandchildren: 11 granddaughters (including Zola and Ellis) and 7 grandsons (including Baby Shepherd, who is deceased, and Bailey).
 * His only son, Derek, says that he misses his father all the time.
 * The flashbacks he appeared in were repeated in Could We Start Again, Please?.