Mary Lee Slater passed peacefully on April 19, 2022.  She always made such a home for us and graciously served others her whole life.  We will miss her so much.  She is survived by her sons Michael (Andrea Potos), Thomas, and Timothy (Megan), and daughter Nancy (Calvin Gabriel), and her three grandchildren, Trevor, Lexi and Ella Rae.

Our mother Mary Lee lived a long and energetic life.  She was born in South Dakota and raised in Menomonie, WI, where she met Ross Slater, the love of her life and husband for almost 65 years, as he was attending Stout University in town.  She received a Business Certificate from the Minnesota School of Business and worked as secretary to a partner at Piper Jaffrey.  In 1954 she married Ross when he returned from serving in the army in the Korean War.  They settled in West St. Paul, MN where she was very busy raising four children and serving at the local Lutheran church.  In 1968 a new job for Ross took the family to Northridge, CA.  Eventually she went back to business roles, first in 1976 at Jackie Sorenson’s Aerobic Dancing where she retired as Director of Operations in 1989.  Later she worked with Ross at a startup in Huntington Beach, Mideo Systems, where she retired as their accountant in 1999.  The couple and their son Thomas moved to Monterey in 1999 and became very active at St. Timothy’s Lutheran Church, with Mary Lee serving on the church council and the Foundation Board, the many charity works of WELCA (raising funds with clothing drives, bake sales and yard sales for the Women’s Prison Ministry and children of farm workers to name a few).  She was active singing in the choir and in the Dagny Circle and really enjoyed her close friends at church.  One favorite was staging the ice cream social near the 4th of July every year with Ross.  They traveled as a couple and with family and relatives and truly enjoyed their retirement.

Lovingly nicknamed “Her Serene Highness,” Mom carried out her many activities with aplomb, yet was always available for a chat or sympathy or advice.  Children were especially drawn to her.  Many a time while shopping we witnessed her speaking to a distressed child and magically the tears dried up.  She used to volunteer at the Olive View Hospital in the natal care unit as a baby holder to comfort them.  Wherever she lived was a second home to her children and grandchildren.  We all enjoyed years and years of get-togethers especially in Monterey, overlooking the bay in the big house on the hill.  We will never forget her.