In the years after the formation of Poway Historical and Memorial Society in 1954, concerned members made a point of interviewing longtime residents of the community to capture their remembrances for posterity.
Sixty years ago, as Poway was rapidly turning from a village into a town, the Poway Chieftain appeared on the scene with its first edition on April 13, 1961.
Once making history, Poway woman now helps preserve it
Mary Shepardson
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Mary Shepardson is known in Poway for many things being a member of its first City Council, Poway’s first female mayor and a former reporter for the Poway News Chieftain.
Shepardson is also known for being one of Poway’s historians.
While not born in Poway, Shepardson moved to the then-unincorporated community with her parents, David R. and Marion Shepardson, and her brother, Philip Shepardson, in 1949. Born in south Pasadena, Shepardson said her father wanted to be a farmer and the family originally moved to Fallbrook, then Poway’s High Valley neighborhood when Shepardson was 3 years old. After realizing farming would not support the family, her father got his real estate license. “My dad was the peacemaker,” Shepardson said. “My mom was the feisty one.”