Robert Louis Shepard was born in on December 25, 1947, to Louis Lee and Verna Mae Shepard, in the St. Agnes Hospital for Negroes on the campus of Saint Auguestine's College in Raleigh, North Carolina. He grew up out side the capital city in a small town named Garner, North Carolina. His grandparents, Willie and Sally Whitaker, on his mother's side, were land owners. They had seven children. His mother Verna, and her six siblings were each given land to build their homes on in what's called in the Garner Land Records, "The Sallie Whitaker Subdivision." The Subdivision is in his Grandmother's name because his Grandfather passed away at age 41, leaving his Grandmother to raise the seven children herself while holding on to the land. Shepard's Grandma always said, "That the land records had her first name spelled wrong."

 

His mother's land was Lot 6, which is where his father built the family home. His aunts and uncles had their homes built on their Lots. Siblings who made their homes in other parts of the country sold their land to a relative. As a result of this connected environment that still exist today, Shepard grew up in a close-knit, God-centered, family community.

 

His mother graduated from high school in 1944, but his father had to drop out in the third grade to help his family who were sharecroppers. His mother motivated him and his six siblings to attend college, and his father stressed the importance of work and, by example, demonstrated that work is your friend.