C. James "Jim" Sheppard

C. James "Jim" Sheppard died of cancer early in the morning on June 28, 2025. He was 81 years old.

Jim spent his life in academia, as a student at the University of Omaha, University of Massachusetts, and the University of Iowa. As Dr. Sheppard, he taught at the University of West Virginia for two years, then moved to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, from whence he retired in 2010. Over the years he taught music composition, electronic music, counterpoint, and various required music courses to hundreds of students at Miami.

Jim was a trumpet player, with his dad Charlie as his first teacher. Jim often talked about playing in dance bands as a teenager with his father, and he majored in trumpet as an undergrad. He shifted to music composition in graduate school, writing for many configurations of instruments, but his favorite was the electronic valve instrument, the EVI. Jim wrote many pieces for EVI and was a master at combining technique and registration to make full use of the EVI's versatility. Jim's compositions are a window into the heart of their creator: sometimes austere, often lush and tactile, sparkling, wistful, intellectual, and always passionate about the singular beauty and power of music to express what words cannot.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents and by his beloved wife, Linda, the mother of his children. He is survived by daughter Susanna, and by his son Zachary, and Zack's partner, Deirdre Blair; and by brothers Mike (Lois), Dennis, and Jeff. Jim is also survived by his wife, Laura, her two children and their spouses, and Laura's six little grandchildren, who knew and loved him as their Papa Jim. 

Jim requested that there be no service. He hoped to be remembered as a reliable colleague, an effective and sympathetic teacher, and most of all, for his music. We, his family, will miss him always.

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