Phil and Gail Shepherd

For Donald “Phil” and Gail Shepherd, life together took off at Auburn Engineering.

The couple, now in their 80s living in Huntsville, met in class studying aerospace engineering in the mid-1960s. What began with stolen glances across lecture halls soon grew from friendship into a steady relationship.

And almost 60 years ago, on March 17, 1966, the couple were married at a small church near the intersection of Magnolia Avenue and Donahue Drive. Their first home after marriage wasn’t a starter home or an apartment — it was the married student housing on campus.

Though married in 1966, the Shepard’s wouldn’t graduate until 1967. Married students attending Auburn was more common then. The university had about 336 units, including one- and two-bedroom units, for married students. The area eventually was named the Carolyn Draughon Village.

Phil Shepherd said most of their time in Auburn was spent on their studies, though they did make the occasional stop at a business easily recognized by longtime Auburn fans.

“They used to have a place down there called the Sani-Freeze. We used to go there to get soft-serve ice cream,” he said. “We didn’t do a lot of fancy dating like they do now. We did a lot of studying and homework and all, but that’s about it.”

Phil and Gail Shepherd concluded their stay in the village in 1967, when they graduated from Auburn and moved to Huntsville to work for Brown Engineering.

He credits a long married life to the couple’s compatibility. He counts himself lucky more than anything.

“Most of the time, when you get married that young, you have to have a lot of luck to go along with it. We were just compatible. We had similar backgrounds,” Shepherd said. “My wife grew up on a farm, and my grandparents were farmers.”

The Shepherds have two children: Donald Shepherd Jr. and Lora Wirth. While the couple left Auburn in the 1960s, the college never really left them. In addition to working in the aerospace industry for their careers, the couple’s two kids both graduated with aerospace engineering degrees.

Lora also followed in her parents’ footsteps. Not only did she marry a fellow Auburn aerospace engineering student — they also got married in Auburn.

The families now all reside in the Huntsville area.

Looking back, Shepherd said marrying while still a student didn’t pull him off course — it grounded him, giving him more focus and direction in his work.

“The only time I made the dean’s list was after I got married,” he said, laughing.