It was exactly three weeks ago tonight that 85-year-old Robert Shepherd was killed driving out of the parking lot at Eckerd College and into traffic on South 54th Avenue. The cruel irony was that he was among a group of citizens who had been agitating for years that a stoplight needed to be installed at the entrance and exit of the St. Pete-based campus.
St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster told a group of Shepherd's closest friends Wednesday afternoon that after speaking with Department of Transportation officials, he' s optimistic that they will restore that light, but admitted there were no guarantees.
"You lost a very dear loved one," Mayor Foster told a crowd of over 70 members of the Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College. The group of retired professionals meets regularly on the campus, and Shepherd, a former U.S diplomat, was a member of that tightly knit group.
This article appears in Nov 29 – Dec 5, 2012.
