The Sheppard Tractor Collection; John Deere 2 Cylinder and Caterpillar

as a young boy he spent his time working the family farm with a team of horses and hand tools and when a neighbor bought a tractor and taught jimmy how to use it life got much easier and better. between jimmy talking non stop to his dad about the tractor and the neighbor telling his dad how much they could accomplish in a days work his dad took the team of horses and the tools to town and sold them to purchase the family's first John Deere Tractor. this began the journey that would begin as a hobby, turn into a passion and would become a healthy and life long obsession. at 12 years old jimmy was able to run the family farm while his dad took a job at Kaiser Chemical to earn extra income for the family. the tractor was a lifeline to a better life and would allow the family to weather the Great Depression and save enough money to buy their own farm and build the family home. A sharecropper no more! Jimmy had a passion for learning and excelled in school and whether it was because of a god given gift or a desire to escape the cotton fields of the farm the result was spectacular. Jimmy graduated from Rehobeth High School (predominately farming curriculum) at the top of his class and through the generosity of others was able to attend the University of Alabama where he eventually graduated Phi Beta Kappa earning a top spot in the Alabama School of Medicine. Jimmy became Dr. Sheppard and attended the University of Florida and specialized in Cardiology and internal Medicine. Joining the Military and moving to Hawaii was the next step and allowed him to sharpen his new found skills. Dr. Sheppard was eventually able to move to Florida to become a flight surgeon at Eglin Air Force Base and upon retiring he opened his private practice in Ft. recognized as a very bright, talented and patient centered physician his skills and ability to focus on lowering medical costs while providing high levels of care did not go unnoticed. Because of his dedication to high quality care and skills as an administrator he was offered the position as the head of the medical facility at the Walton Department of Corrections and accepted it. While working as a physician Dr. Sheppard began his hobby of restoring tractors and crawlers as a way to relieve stress and do something productive with his downtime. With his knowledge of tractors from his farming days it was a natural fit. researching, finding and restoring his John Deere tractors kept his mind sharp and took him throughout the Midwest and pacific northwest where he made many lifelong friends and created lasting memories. in talking to Dr. Sheppard you will find the common thread that whatever happened in any given situation he did things "because it was the right thing to do" and his pride and love for his children (Penny, Polly, Pam and Ballard). at last count there are over 100 restored John Deere 2 cylinder Tractors, Caterpillar Crawlers, assorted crawlers from Best, Holt and Allis Chalmers and graders; both horse drawn and motor. it is a collection you have to see to believe and is believed to be the largest collection of its kind anywhere in the world.