I was introduced to Tony very shortly after he and my best friend Peta had met. He was funny, kind, intelligent, knowing and caring. He was also patient, and patience was needed to withstand Peta and my long phone calls and chats! As Peta's best friend, I had the dubious pleasure of minding the house and letting the caterers in on the day of their wedding. Rather than attend the ceremony, I and another friend revelled in the fact that their new house had five toilets - all of which we made sure we used! From the memories posted, I can see that Tony would have appreciated that! Tony was also blessed in fatherhood. He already had three lovely children, and then came two more. I loved visiting and staying with them in Kingston. The household was vibrant and loving and Tony's character pervaded. He was a great father and after my twins were born, even though 'The Shepherds" were now living in the US, I had no doubts in asking him and Peta to be their legal guardians. Should that have been necessary, the new life and upheaval that would have meant for Sam and Sarah was nothing compared to the joy, guidance and belonging they would have received. Since then, Tony has been Uncle Tony for us all. Always there, always strong, always brave. We will miss you. Jane, Tony, Sam and Sarah.

Memories of Uncle Tony I have nothing but fond memories of my Uncle Tony, he was a funny chap with playful sense of humour and was always ready to play with the, oh so many, of his nephews and nieces. I remember many a family summer BBQ and Christmas party where we were so excited at being able to play with our cousins. He'd love to join in with us and I remember a game that I we thought was great fun; holding onto his hands, walking up his legs and backflipping over, screaming out "Again! Again!" all jostling to get the next turn until we'd exhausted him. I particularly loved going to parties at Uncle Tony's and Aunty Peta's and now I'm older I realise what a Goliath task it must have been to entertain and feed us all. Aunty Peta always took it in her stride and won our hearts with the amazing treats she made. I have never forgotten the joy of her homemade marshmallow ice cream! One Christmas, I remember proudly showing Tony my new doll and he said to me, "When I was a little girl, I had a dolly just like that!" I was confused and a little too young to understand if he was joking or not and imagined him with pigtails, wearing a pretty dress and wondered how he could have grown up to be a big man. Alongside his playful side and as I grew older, he was always interested to know how our lives were going and was there to offer sage advice on careers, life and ways of the world and I always valued his advice and wisdom. When my children were little, we were lucky enough to visit Uncle Tony and Aunty Peta when they lived in Plymouth, MA. I remember Uncle Tony holding my daughter Amelie, pacing around the house whilst she teethed on cold cucumber and Peta playing dinosaurs and playdough with George. I have very fond memories of our visit. I last saw Uncle Tony at my father's funeral, and whilst he was struggling with his own poor health, he delivered an amazing eulogy that I will always remember and be forever grateful for. We loved him very much and he will be missed dearly

I read a comment from someone regarding Uncle Tony quoting him as saying "Excuse me while I splash my boots" and I could hear his lovely voice so clearly when I read this. I'm in awe of him for what he overcame and the strength he showed. Tony flew to England and delivered such a beautiful eulogy for my dad, all when he was not well himself, I was so grateful to him for this. I have the most amazing childhood memories thanks to Tony, Peta and my lovely cousins. I'm thinking of all of you now.

Tony, Ant or just Shep, the Yorkshireman answered to them all. Tony and I first met in a woolwich arsenal pub in 1978 not far from the Unilever crushing plant where he operated the soybean crush. We had arranged the meeting and I travelled down from Liverpool to arrive in this real 1940's pub with dirty floors and warm beer. As cell phones were light years away it was conversation about Arsenal and very little else. I'm supping my pint when the fella next to me asks ´do you know a bloke called Liverpool Dick'. That was the greatest introduction ever and we remained good friends for the next 40 odd years. Shep's humour never wained and was typically Yorkshire like another Yorkshireman, Michael Palin who we both were huge fans. We certainly both shared our taste in humour. I can recall a pretty important meeting in Edinburgh with the CEO of a major poultry feed producer who was very old school. Tony was able to introduce his humour into a tricky meeting and pulled off a sizeable order. When we were leaving Tony shook the CEO's hand and advised him not to look up at 5:30 as our flight would be overhead and he would be sure to flush. Tony was at ease with a pint of bitter or a champagne cocktail. He was a superb best man at my wedding and had everyone in stitches with his off the wall humour. Trade dinners were always an event for guessing the year of a vintage port. This procedure would demand consumption of many fine wines, but the tasting exercise seemed to get lost in the alcoholic haze. In short, Tony was the best of the best both in and out of business. He will be a huge missing piece of family life to everyone around him. Farewell Shep and keep an eye out for me. Liverpool Dick

For the Healy family the Shepherd family was our family in Bradford in the 1960s. My Mum and Dad moved there from Ireland at the beginning of that decade and I arrived in 1961, my sister Sarah in 1962, and brother Peter in 1964. Bernard was his first "boss" at AIC and they quickly became best friends. My earliest memories are of my time at Shepherds who by that time had all eight of their children. Our families quickly became inseparable and when my Dad joined the UN and travelled overseas Bernard was persuaded to join him in Malaysia some 3 years later and Sheila followed. Anthony was already 10 when I was born and so by the time my memories are fully formed he was already away and making his life. But he was always with us because his Mum and Dad were always around us and sharing stories of what he was doing; having a "cousin" in the music industry was very exciting for a musically minded teenager! By the time we had grown up Anthony was away on his travels although we always knew where he was and what was going on. It was not until many years later that we met up again. I particularly recall meeting up with him again when we celebrated Hilary's life. It was great to see him again and have the opportunity to catch up. We knew Anthony had not been well for some time, but it was still a shock when Caroline called with the news of his passing. Sarah, Peter, and I send much love to Peta and all the family. Perhaps one day we will get to meet up again in person to share thoughts and memories.

I have known Tony for many years on a prefessional basis, when he worked for Merrick then later for Hamlet Protein and finally we started our adventure together with Euroduna America and we became best friends. Our first trip together in the US, when we drove by car from Minneapolis to Des Moines, I remember my first lunch in a local Diner. When we visited the office in Manila together and the hotel got on fire and I called the head office ordering everybody to try to contact Tony to warn him what was going on downstairs. The visits in Plymouth, first alone and then with the whole family and my children were so impressed by Tony and Peta. Many times we spent good times together in Europe, Asia and the United States. Our exhibitions in Des Moines, with IPA sessions... And of course I am grateful for the things I learned from Tony, not only in our business, but also in the private lifes we had many things in common. It is very painful to write here and being aware that Tony has travelled to the next level already, missing him, and my eyes are full of tears now, but I am very, very happy that I have been able to be close to Tony for the last 12 years. He enriched my life a lot and my family and I will always keep him in our hearts. Thank you Tony & see you again on the next level where we will spend more time together!!!

Tony was my older brother, albeit by a mere 20 months, and the closest sibling in age to me. He was always kind, wise and very quick- witted. He could spin a good yarn and keep his audience entertained with accounts of his exploits and his wonderful sense of ridiculous. As teenagers we both attended schools in Bradford. I went to the all girls Saint Josephs College and Tony went to the all boys Saint Bede's school and he was a couple of years ahead of me. When I was in my third or maybe fourth year at Saint Joseph's, I was delighted to find that my popularity was increasing exponentially. All these different girls and even some from the year above wanted to drop by the house and spend time with me. I felt very loved and appreciated until I realised that they all had an ulterior motive. The object of their admiration was not me, but Tony. Tony was certainly outnumbered by his female siblings but he took it all in his stride never showing partisanship as he illustrated one particular Christmas. In typical Tony fashion, he delayed present shopping until Christmas Eve in the hopes of snapping up a few bargains. He duly took yourself off to Otley market and bought an array of belts which he gift wrapped somewhat inexpertly. He then labelled each parcel to "Our kid" and handed them out randomly without fear or favour on Christmas morning. I treasure fond memories of parties and family occasions and a couple of wonderful holidays in Massachusetts. My three, now grown up, children loved and admired their Uncle Tony. He has been a great comfort to me and he was a much loved brother in law to John. He will be greatly missed. Rest in Peace and God bless Tony.

I was first introduced to Tony and his family in 1974 by his sister Hilary who was to become my wife for some forty years. Over the decades I knew him, Tony like a brother to me, someone who was warm, generous and positive. He was a man of considerable abilities with enormous amounts of energy. With eight Shepherd siblings my memories of those early years are of large, and, as children arrived, ever-larger family gatherings. His father would take us men down to the pub in the Yorkshire village where they lived for a drink before lunch, a tradition that continued until Tony's Catherine and the other granddaughters became teenagers and insisted on joining the men! As more members of the family settled in the south so more of the parties were held at Tony and Peta's lovely home in Kingston, London. They were relaxed, generous hosts, with the house full of family from the latest babies to grandparents. The noise levels and general revelry certainly impressed my own parents when they joined us one Christmas. When Tony and Peta moved from Dallas to Cape Cod, Hilary and I cheekily said we would love to come and stay even before they had moved in. Hilary was a wheelchair user and they made converting the basement into an accessible guest suite their number one priority. We had an absolutely wonderful time together. As Hilary's MS steadily progressed, Tony would write offering his support for the difficult decisions that sometimes affected us. Because he was someone held by everyone in such high regard, this support meant a lot to me. Tony and Peta went out of their way to welcome my new partner, Vee, into the family. We were staying with them in Cape Cod the night of the Hillary Clinton/Donald Trump televised debate. The TV in the living room had broken down so the four of us sat up on their king-sized bed drinking whisky watching the presidential hopefuls circle each other. A surreal scene both on and off the screen - and a very happy memory. It was typical of Tony that five years ago when I married Vee, he and Peta came over for the wedding and he gave a warm and humorous speech. Tony's passing will leave a real gap in my life. Vee and I hope to welcome Peta over to Whitstable before too long when we can share more memories.

My big brother Anthony was 9 years older than me almost to the day, he was the 4th of eight children and I was the 8th. By the time I was old enough to take notice he was more often than not out busy with his friends but I can remember cuddling on his knee, listening to him play his guitar and his records I believe it was "The Animals and the Kinks " that were the flavour of the day. As I got a bit older my friends, all half in love with him, would hang around the house anytime he was at home making excuses to talk to him and giggling happily when he paid them attention, I suspect it drove him nuts but we were only 9 or 10 We used to go on holiday to Filey every summer often at the same time as our cousins, one time we were there with the Denison cousins, there were eight of them too and we were all much of an age. Anthony and John took us little ones down to the harbour to give our parents some peace. The way Anthony told it he got us to hold hands with the respective cousin of our age, then crocodile marched us down the road to the harbour, being a born entrepreneur even then, he didn't disillusion some People who assumed we were on a day trip from a school or an orphanage, and graciously accepted their offer to buy us all ice creams which we ate sitting on the beach while he and John played the amusement arcades, he won some money on the push penny machine and we all got some chips to share as well. Anthony loved everything family and many memories are tied up with big family parties at Littleburn with all our relatives, at Isobel's, Hilary's Angela's and Anthony and Peta's home in London. One time I remember we were at our home in Whitstable, for some reason that escapes me Anthony was travelling back to London alone by train, Catherine had left her doll behind, I can still picture him grumbling and waving goodbye with a doll stuck out the top of his jacket. At one of Angela's parties Pete and I each thought the other were driving home. Anthony and Peta love them took us back to theirs to stay the night and even bought presents for Christopher to open the next morning as it was his 3rd birthday and all his presents were at home in Whitstable. Anthony always looked out for all his family, even when we grew up as sisters and brothers do he felt a responsibility for us all. I remember getting the big brother lecture when we visited him in Texas. The attraction he dropped us off at was mostly shut, not wanting to bother him we and our four children got on a bus, apparently that was not a good idea, the bus conductress was very kind and diverted the bus to drop us off at Dallas Alley after making sure we rang Anthony to come and get us. Bless him he was horrified because he hadn't thought to warn me not to get a bus, I think he'd have grounded me for the rest of the visit if he could. I remember the kids playing table football with him, he had a customised table with his home team in his beloved Bradford City colours, somehow his team always won, I swear that table was sloped to the opponents goal, he swore it wasn't but he wouldn't let me check with a spirit level. Anthony was so proud of his children and all their achievements, He sent me a picture of Catherine and Brandi with Barack Obama saying "whose the bloke in the middle" with true sisterly rivalry I sent him one back saying I see your president of the United States and raise you the future king of the UK, with a picture of me meeting Prince Charles, it made him laugh so much I think he finally forgave me for getting on a bus in Dallas. Night night god bless big bro, you will only ever be a thought away x

I first me Tony in the late 70's and he quickly became a close confident and someone I trusted to keep things to himself and bounce ideas off - in short a real friend. I have so many memories, but a couple that spring to mind is when I was once in the US, and went home via Dallas to see Tony and Peta when they lived there. 2 recollections spring to mind: He decided we should see the Book depository from where Oswald shot JFK, and drive down Daley Plaza where the incident took place . We left the depository and got ever closer to the actual spot in the car , and all the grainy black and white images I remember on our tiny TV as a 9 year old came flooding back. We were almost there when all of a sudden he veers off in a different direction having taken a wrong turn. On the same visit we went to Fort Worth a relatively short distance away, and with no other cars around were obviously exceeding the speed limit. All of a sudden we have a policeman on a huge Harley Davidson behind us with a siren wailing and nights flashing. This huge bloke approaches the car " leave it to me" I said "I'll get out and do the ignorant tourist bit" Tony looks horrified and screams at me "Stop! Stop! he'll shoot you" "Put your hands on the dashboard!" One speeding ticket later- welcome to Texas. One thing we did have in common was when we left our respective Universities with no idea what to do, we both took the soft option of the one year post graduate diploma (PGCE) and qualified as teachers a direction we both never took up. In later years we both concluded that the best thing that ever happened to the UK education system was that neither of us had anything to do with it. My friend Tony , one of the good guys.