Mr. Bennie L. Shumate, 80, of Fayetteville, died Saturday, Jan. 20, 2007, in Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. The family will receive friends at Highland Presbyterian Church on Thursday, Jan. 25, at 10 am. The service will follow at 11 am in the church sanctuary with Drs. Ernest Johnson and Leighton McKeithen officiating. The burial will be later that day at 4:30 pm in Elkin, NC, at the Hollywood Cemetery. Mr. Shumate was born in Elkin and served in the Army during World War II, receiving two purple hearts for injuries he sustained in combat operations in Europe. He attended the University of North Carolina and graduated from the NY School of Interior Design. He and his wife moved to Fayetteville in 1956 where he was employed by National Gypsum Co. In 1970, he became a manufacturer's representative with the opening of his own business, Shumate Sales. He was a longtime member of Highland Presbyterian Church, where he had served as a deacon. He was preceded in death by his parents, Shober English Shumate and Nora Russell Shumate; two brothers, Graham and Earl Shumate; and sister, Ruth Shumate Combs. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Elizabeth Greever Shumate, of the home; two daughters, Leigh Ann Shumate Bryant of Clinton, SC and Charlotte Shumate Frederich of Oakton, Va; and their husbands, Dr. Robert Bryant and CH (LTC) Peter Frederich; five grandchildren, Stephen and Susannah Bryant, and Charles, Samuel and Anna Frederich; two nephews and one neice. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Highland Presbyterian Church, PO Box 53036, Fayetteville NC 28305 or to a charity of one's choice.