Visitation For Shelby Fire Chief's Funeral Begins

Information on funeral services for Shelby Township Fire Chief Gene Shepherd, who died Monday at the age of 56.

Shelby Fire Chief Works Through Cancer to 'Finish What He Started'

Shelby Township Fire Chief Gene Shepherd talks openly with Patch about his two-year battle with a rare form of cancer.

Shelby Township Fire Chief Gene Shepherd is living proof of his personal mantra: Finish what you start. On Dec. 7, 1987, Shepherd was 31 when he took a job as an EMS medic and firefighter in Shelby Township. “It’s pretty easy (to remember the date) when you get hired on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. It’s like when you get married you never forget the day you were hired,” said Shepherd. On Dec. 7, 2012, 25 years later—to the date—Shepherd said he plans on retiring from the Shelby Township Fire Department. “In life in general: you start something and try to get through it. I don’t like leaving things open ended,” he said. Despite being diagnosed in 2010 with clear-cell sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, the 56-year-old chief hasn’t let …

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