Crowd bids farewell to DeKalb County community servant Matthew Ware

Updated: 2.14.2025

DEKALB COUNTY, GA—On Tuesday, Feb. 11, a crowd celebrated the life of Matthew Ware, a beloved community servant in DeKalb County. Mr. Ware passed away after illness on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, the day before his birthday. He was 68.

The 16-page program booklet honoring Mr. Ware was filled with photos and the many contributions he made as a public servant, including serving as a past chairman/vice chairman of the Board of Directors Georgia Lottery;  a four-year term on the  City Council in Athens, GA, where he served as finance chair and mayor pro tem. While in Athens, he helped found Citizens for a Better Government, which worked successfully to get Michael Thurmond elected as the first African American from Athens to serve in the State House of Representatives.   

At the homegoing celebration, Mr. Ware’s wife, E. Noreen Banks Ware, and their daughter, Erin Camille Ware, and son, Joshua Matthew Ware, received various  honors recognizing their loved one for his long history of work as an accountant,  philanthropist, mentor and community activist. 

There were tributes by DeKalb County District 5 Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson, who recognized Mr. Ware as a  U.S. Citizen of Distinction on behalf of her husband, Congressman Hank Johnson; former DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond, who attended the service with his wife, Lola; Councilwoman Tammy Grimes, who represented the City of Stonecrest; Dr. Alvin Griffin, who made the presentation of the Fisk University Hall of Fame Induction Award honoring Mr. Ware as the nation’s leading scorer in basketball while a student at Fisk; Bernard Levett, past president of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb, where Mr. Ware served served as a  president of the mentoring organization; and St. Paul AME Worship Center, where he was a long-time member who served on the church’s finance committee. E. Camille Ware, Mr. Ware’s daughter, and his sister-in-law Cheryl L. Banks also paid tributes and shared humorous stories about their loved one as only a daughter and sister-in-law could.

In addition to those who spoke, other dignitaries who attended the homegoing celebration, which was held at St. Paul AME Worship Center in Lithonia, included U.S. Marshal Thomas E. Brown and DeKalb County Judge Mark Anthony Scott. 

The eulogist was the Rev. Kevin T. Moore, senior pastor of St. Paul AME Worship Center. Marvin Crawford, MD, pastor of First St. Paul AME in Lithonia, gave the benediction. Kevin Shepherd, saxophonist, performed the recessional.  

The repast was held at Fairfield Baptist Church’s banquet hall.

Gregory B. Levett & Sons Funeral Homes & Crematory handled arrangements for the funeral.