HERMANVILLE — Matthew Shorter died Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008, at Hospice Ministries in Ridgeland. He was 89.

Mr. Shorter was preceded in death by his parents, Jackson and Mary Wilson Shorter; his wife, Candis Shorter; five sons, Woodrow Shorter, Monroe Shorter, Arthur Shorter, Jackson Shorter and Johnny Lee Shorter; and one daughter, Margaret Shorter-Smith.

He is survived by four sons, Matthew Shorter and Jerry Shorter, both of Hermanville, Abraham Shorter of Red Lick and Albert Shorter of Vicksburg; four daughters, Sarah Barnes of Port Gibson, Florine Chase of Utica, Carrie Shorter of Hermanville and Adlean Dennis of Fishskills, N.Y.; one brother, Jill Shorter of Greenville; two sisters, Dorothy Jenkins and Lou Ella Johnson, both of Hermanville; 21 grandchildren; 34 great-grandchildren; five great-great-grandchildren; and nieces, nephews, friends and other relatives, including Tamakia Terry of Utica.

Services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at First Baptist Church of Hermanville with the Rev. Johnny Hughes officiating. Burial will follow at Hermanville Cemetery. Visitation will be from 1 until 6 today at Thompson Funeral Home in Port Gibson with family hour from 7 until 8 p.m. and Saturday at the church from noon until the service.