R. Perry Shorts*

R. Perry Shorts was born in Morris, Manitoba, Canada, in 1879. He was the son of a Methodist minister whose modest salary was barely enough to rear a family of five children. While still in high school, Shorts sold newspapers and clerked in a newsstand to supplement his family's income. He paid his tuition at what eventually became Central Michigan University as a factory worker and later earned his law degree from the University of Michigan, graduating in 1906.

Shorts became a highly successful attorney and in 1921, was named vice president and director of Second National Bank. He served as president from 1929 to 1957, and was appointed chairman in 1963. Under his management, the bank's assets increased from $17.5 million to more than $125 million.

Shorts was also a regent of the University of Michigan, and a director of the Michigan Bell Telephone Company, the National Bank of Detroit, the Michigan Bean Company, and Michigan Sugar Company.