Mary Shaw Guider, a longtime Vicksburg resident, died Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, surrounded by family at her home in Openwood. She was 98.

Mrs. Guider was born in Lincolnton, N.C., on Sept. 27, 1916, to Thomas Stephens Shaw and Feriba Grier Shaw, but spent her childhood and attended local schools in New Orleans. She graduated in French and Spanish from Tulane University’s Sophie Newcomb College in 1938, and shortly thereafter accepted a teaching position at All Saints College in Vicksburg.

It was while working in the River City that she met Benjamin A. Guider, who was then a young lawyer. They married three weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and he was soon shipped off to Europe for the duration of the war, first to the North African Theater, and then to the allied campaign in Italy.

Mary returned to her parents’ home in New Orleans and worked for naval intelligence in their decoding section until 1945. After the armistice, when her husband was discharged from the Army, they set up house first in Chapel Hills subdivision and later on Chambers Street, where they raised six children and triple that number of pets.

During those years, Mary was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church, the Junior Auxiliary, the Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of the Confederacy, the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

After her children went off to college, she taught French for two years in the public school system. Until her last years, Mary belonged to a local bridge club, which has been playing bi-weekly since 1946.

She delighted in entertaining friends and family in her home and is fondly remembered by her children and grandchildren as a wonderful cook and a loving matriarch at countless family gatherings.

After Judge Guider died in 1994, Mary moved to the Openwood area northeast of the city where she enjoyed gardening, cooking, reading, bird-watching, cheering the Atlanta Braves, traveling to New Orleans, California and New York City, and receiving visits from friends and family.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 53 years, Ben Guider; her brother Calvin Shaw; and her son, John Guider.

Survivors include two sons, Dr. Ben Guider Jr. (Linda) of New Orleans and Tom Guider (Bernadette) of Wilmington, Del.; three daughters, Elizabeth Collins (Walter) of Los Angeles, Mary D. Corkern (Pete) of Brookhaven, and Sally Gray (Lloyd) of Tupelo; her daughter-in-law, Beth Harris Guider of Utica; 13 grandchildren: Ben Guider III, Bill Guider, Dr. Julie Land, Christopher Guider, Jonathan Guider, Catherine Guider, Justin Guider, Susan Guider, Meredith Guider, Alison Guider, Lloyd Gray Jr., Mary Gray and Isabel Gray; and four great-grandchildren, Emily Guider, Thompson Guider, Charlotte Guider and Riley Heard.

Her two adoring Siamese cats, Penny and Chipper, also died recently after 15 years in her lovely home.

The Guider family would like to thank Dr. Walter Johnston, caregivers Lillie Richardson and Penny Sweet, Gentiva Home Health and Hospice, nurse Mable Jennings, therapist Carol Bonelli and longtime friends and relatives, including Diane Howard Livingston and Bernice Junge.

Riles Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Services will be 11 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015, at First Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Tim Brown officiating. Visitation will be from 9:30 a.m. until the hour of service.

Burial will follow in the Guider family plot at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Vicksburg.

Pallbearers will be her grandsons Ben and Bill Guider and Lloyd Gray Jr., Bill Harris, Ray Duncan and Brandon Geter. Honorary pallbearers will be Bob Andrews, Jimmy Biedenharn, Richard Biedenharn, Jerry Campbell, Jimmy Chaney, John Coccaro, Rusty Haydel, Ken Hicks, Dr. Charles Johnson, Richard Lambert and Fred Pajerski.

Memorials can be made to the American Heart Association or to the Palmer Home for Children. Condolences may be left at www.charlesrilesfuneralhome.com.