Joseph Jackson Sheppard, Jr. a resident of Battle Lake and Los Angeles, CA. died Sunday, November 19, 2006 at his home in California. Joe was born on February 25, 1931 in Blooming Grove, TX the son of Joseph J. and Freddie (Barham) Sheppard. He graduated from High School in Frost, TX in 1947. He attended Baylor University in Waco, TX, where he completed a B.A. in Physics and received an M.S. in Fluid Dynamics from the University of Minnesota. On February 6, 1953 he married Alma Olson of Battle Lake, MN. During their married years they resided in Minnesota, New York and California retiring to Battle Lake in 2000. Joe was a scientist and businessman. He was a senior engineer at the University of Minnesota Rosemount Aeronautical Laboratories from 1952-56 and a staff scientist at the Convair Scientific Research Laboratory in San Diego, CA from 1957-62. From 1962-67 he was a lecturer in Engineering at the State University of New York at Stony Brook where he completed his Ph D in Thermodynamics. He was a consultant to the RAND Corporation from 1963-67 when he joined their professional staff. His bio-engineering research activities dealt primarily with the human visual mechanism, stroke prevention and cardiac arrhythmia. He authored a book on human color perception in 1968. In 1971 he formed a company, CardioDynamics, where he developed and implemented the equipment, data collection, processing protocols and clinical interpretation standards for a noninvasive procedure known as dynamic electrocardiography. Now called the Holter EKG monitor, it is considered a standard procedure today. Cardio was acquired in 1978 and Joe left in 1979 to form a new company called XICO where he worked in magnetic stripe technology and manufacturing (automatic identification and data collection). In 1999, he was a recipient of the Dilling Award for contributions to the AIDC industry and was a member of the AIDC 100. Joe?s interests include writing, focusing in the areas of science and religion. He also enjoyed cooking for family and friends, his specialty being Mexican cuisine. Together with his wife, Alma he wrote a food column for the Fergus Falls Daily Journal. He also compiled and published a collection of Sheppard/Olson family recipes, called the Casa Alma Cookbook. He was a loving and giving person, to both family and friends. He was a member of the Battle Lake First Lutheran Church where he served on the church council. Joe was preceded in death by his parents, a brother Jack Sheppard and his daughter, Susan. He is survived by his wife, Alma; children, Joseph J. Sheppard III and wife Brenda; grandchildren, Joseph IV (JJ), Heather, Jackie and Julie, his daughter, Mary (Peter) McCaffrey, grandchildren Susan and Jonathan, and son Peter. He is also survived by two great-grandchildren.