Retired Educator Named First Citizen of Cherokee

Photo credit: Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce

A retired educator can now add another distinction to her long list of accomplishments

Frankie Ferguson Shepherd has been named the 40th recipient of the First Citizen of Cherokee County award. Shepherd was honored during the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce’s 44th Annual Meeting, which was held Jan. 22.

Shepherd, who resides in Canton, was principal of the Ralph Bunche School until she retired in 1999 from the Cherokee County School District.

Shepherd’s current and former community and professional affiliations include: serving on the Appalachian Technical College and Chattahoochee Technical College Board of Directors; member of the Cherokee County Board of Elections & Registration, Cherokee Board of Equalization, member of the Cherokee County School District’s tribunal panel; YMCA board member; charter member of Leadership Cherokee; charter member of the Boys & Girls Club’s Board of Directors; member of the Cherokee County Board of Ethics; Northside Hospital-Cherokee volunteer; Cherokee County Democratic Party officer; 100 Black Women of NW Georgia; Atlanta Tuskegee Alumni Club; Gamma Eta Society; Cherokee County Retired Educators Association; Georgia Association of Educators and National Education Association.

She is also an active member of Hickory Log Baptist Church.

Other accomplishments bestowed upon Shepherd include the Rotary Club of Canton’s Jean Harris Outstanding Volunteerism award, the MLK Outstanding Community Leader Award and the Speaker Thomas B. Murphy Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia Democratic Party.

Most recently, she was named to the Chattahoochee Technical College President’s Advisory Board and the WellStar Kennestone Hospital Advisory Board.

“The Cherokee County Chamber is honored to name Frankie Shepherd as the 40th annual recipient of the prestigious First Citizen of Cherokee County Award. It is obvious, based upon her accomplishments, why she was selected,” said Jeff Rusbridge of Dyer & Rusbridge, PC and 2015 chairman of the Chamber.

The title of First Citizen of Cherokee County is bestowed upon resident of Cherokee County who has resided in the county for a minimum of five years and has shown significant meritorious service to his/her community through family, civic and/or religious involvement.

A panel of out-of-town judges reviews the accomplishments of each applicant then the winner is chosen based upon merit. Shepherd joins a prestigious list of honorees, including former Canton physician Dr. Grady Coker, who was the initial recipient in 1971, along with Joan McFather who was selected in 2014.

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