Ethel Bearden was born April 11, 1907 in the Blair Community to parents Lee Andrew Bearden and Fannie Sapp.  She had Five siblings: Marvin J. Bearden, Mildred Bearden, Benjamin Hardy Bearden, Larry Douglas Bearden and Brooksie Lee Bearden.  She graduated from Timpson High School in 1926 and on October 10, 1925 married Steve Emmett Shepherd.  The couple had two children, Stephen Emmett Shepherd and Thomas David Shepherd.  Ethel studied history and education at SFA.  She became an avid and talented student at Mrs. Danne Langhorne’s art studio in Timpson.  She and Emmett owned and successfully operated two well-known and popular businesses in Timpson: The Senate Caféand Shepherd’s Restaurant.

Ethel died at a relatively young age on August 18, 1961 and was laid to rest in the Good Hope Cemetery in Blair.