Alfred R. Shands III ’50

Al, who described his life as “punctuated with a series of radical changes,” died Sept. 7, 2021, in Kentucky.

A Woodberry Forest graduate, he belonged to Cloister and graduated with high honors in English at Princeton. Following a year at Scotland’s St. Andrews University, he earned a master’s in divinity degree from Virginia Theological Seminary and was ordained as an Episcopal priest. His journey then took him to England to write a book, to a Kentucky parish for two years, back to England to write another book, and to Washington for 10 years, where he started an interracial, intercity congregation.

After studying at New York University film school, he formed his own company in Louisville that produced more than 30 films in the 1970s, including award-winning documentaries. During that time he founded St. Clement’s Episcopal Church.

With his wife Mary, whom he married in 1967, he became a serious collector of contemporary art. In 2012 he received Kentucky’s B. Hudson Milner Award for philanthropic and artistic contributions to the arts.

In 2016 he founded the Great Meadows Foundation to support contemporary artists. He also created the Mary and Al Shands Art Preserve — a collection of their sculptures displayed in the meadow by their home. 

Al was predeceased by Mary in 2009. He is survived by three children, three grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.