Shepardson was an English professor at Westfield State College and founded the English and Communications Department at St. Thomas University in Florida.
Phil Shepardson never would have wanted a mournful eulogy, says his son. He wanted people to have a party when he left this life.
For 30 years, Shepardson was host of “As Schools Match Wits,” the TV quiz show that has run for 50 years, first on WWLP-TV and then on WGBY.
He died this week at age 76 in Hollywood, Fla., where he moved after retiring in 1991.
His son Steven, who lives in Easthampton, said there was a lot more to Shepardson than the low-key persona on camera. “He always said, ‘I want a party when I go!’” said Steven.
Shepardson was both an English professor at Westfield State College and, in the days before “Wits,” host of “The Wicky Wacky Cloud,” a mix of drawings and cartoons on TV.
According to Steven, “Wicky Wacky” became so popular that within a year, his father was getting offers from Milton Bradley.
“But he didn’t want to be a children’s entertainer,” said Steven. “He wanted to be an educator. That always impressed me.
“Passionate, caring teaching was his thing. He really wanted to help his students, but he wanted them to demand excellence from themselves.”
“Wits” was a collaboration between Westfield State and WWLP from the time it went on the air in 1961. Len Collamore, who produced and wrote questions for the show, was a Westfield State alum.
Steven, 54, is the oldest of four children of Phil and his first wife, Eleanor, who later became a lawyer and an ordained minister in California.
He recalls bicycling to Stanley Park in Westfield with his dad when it was a “tiny little place.” His father also liked tossing a baseball or football in the backyard after supper.
Two of his siblings still live in Western Massachusetts, Lisa in Southampton and Peter in South Hadley. Their sister, Ann O’Sullivan, lives in California. A half-brother, Brendan, is in Florida.
Steven wanted to become an engineer, to follow a different career path than his dad. But, sure enough, he said wryly, he wound up majoring in English at the University of Massachusetts.
His parents divorced when Steven was 18, and his father moved to Florida with his second wife, Colleen Flaherty.
There Phil founded the English and Communications Department at St. Thomas University. He had another son, divorced again, but remained close to his second wife, according to Steven.
His father loved the poetry of Robert Frost, he said, and liked drawing cartoons.
He was a very positive person. If he got a sore throat before the show, he still insisted on carrying on.
“He willed illness off him,” said Steven, with a kind of incredulity in his voice. “He was amazing.”
Steven said the family plans to have a picnic in honor of Phil at Stanley Park in the fall, which was his father’s favorite season.