Glen K. Slaughter

1919 - 2012

Glen K. Slaughter of Santa Fe, New Mexico, died peacefully on April 2, 2012. He had been residing at the medical center of the El Castillo Retirement Community. Glen Slaughter was born to Guy Tyson Slaughter and Libbie Crawford Kilton, in Berkeley, California on September 19, 1919. He was educated in Berkeley, graduating from Berkeley High School in 1937. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1942 from the University of California at Berkeley with a BA in economics and art. He earned an MA in economics at
American University in 1954.
After he graduated from the University of California, he immediately applied to attend the U.S. Navy Japanese Language School, which had just relocated from the University of California Berkeley to the University of Colorado at Boulder. He graduated in 1943, a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Marine Corps Reserve and a Japanese Language Officer. Glen's Pacific duties as a Language Officer began with the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion on Bougainville in the Solomon Islands, which was followed by service in the Emirau, Guam and Okinawa campaigns, eventually with the 29th Regiment, 6th Marine Division. His responsibilities included combat intelligence, translating and interpreting Japanese captured documents, and interrogating Japanese POWs. Glen was promoted to 1st Lieutenant in 1944.
During the Okinawa Campaign, Lieutenants Slaughter and Nelson, along with Okinawan volunteer, "Tony" Komesu, manned an offshore PA system, attempting to halt Japanese and Okinawan military and civilian suicide attempts from a cliff on the island. This effort saved many lives and created a life-long bond. During the initial Occupation of Japan, Glen was initially assigned to duties in Yokosuka, Japan. Soon afterward, he was sent to Tsingtao, China, where elements of his division were involved with repatriating the enormous numbers of Japanese POWs. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions on Bougainville, Guam and Okinawa. He maintained his life-long fellowship with his fellow Marine veterans and Japanese language school classmates from World War II. He returned to Okinawa in 1990 with veterans of that campaign for a reunion with Komesu and was moved by the warmth and sincerity of the reception he received from the Okinawans.
Following the end of WWII, Glen worked 10 years in Washington D.C. for the labor movement, becoming an assistant to George Meany at the AFL. He was a board member for the Labor league and in 1949 received the annual Labor Press of America Award for his work as columnist for the League Reporter. In 1954 Glen and his family moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area where he later founded his own company, Glen Slaughter and Associates in Oakland, California. GS&A provided employee health and benefit plan consulting and administrative services to many large trusts in California, Nevada and Oregon. Longtime clients included the Automotive Industries, IBEW and the Northern California Butchers. San Francisco columnist Herb Caen loved pointing out that a man named Slaughter was the administrator of the Butchers Trust Fund. In 1976 the RAND Corporation engaged Glen and his
firm to administer claims and data collection operations for the National Health Insurance Study.
Glen kept up his contacts in Washington, serving on the special labor commission for Arthur Goldberg during the Johnson administration and the Harry Truman Centennial Commission in 1984. In 1965 he served as Chairman of what became the International Foundation, taking the helm during the tumultuous period when Teamster President Jimmy Hoffa attempted to take control of the organization for his own political purposes.
Glen met his future wife Mary Elizabeth (Betty) Davies when they were both students at the University of California at Berkeley. They were married in Boulder, December 1942, and had two children: Peter, and Sarah. They retired to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1986. Glen and Betty kept many friends from their Berkeley student years, returning for the Big Game on numerous occasions - the best was at their 40th reunion in 1982 when they were fortunate to be in the crowd to watch "The Play".
Before moving to El Castillo, Glen was a long-time resident of Quail Run where he was one of the first golf club members. He was duly proud of the fact that he carried his own golf bag until he was 84. He was a past golf member of the Olympic Club in San Francisco, holding on to his membership for years after moving to Santa Fe.
Glen will be remembered for his keen intelligence and his wry, subtle sense of humor. He lived his life by ethical principles that he backed up with actions, not just words. He was an exceptionally fair and thoughtful employer; loved by his employees and admired by his colleagues. Glen was a genuinely caring husband and father and will be missed deeply by his family. He was a devoted companion to the family dogs -dutifully walking a succession of Bouvier de Flandres sheep dogs - Maggie, Cleo and Molly. He was a lucky man in so many ways and those around him felt lucky to have him in their life.
He was preceded in death by his parents and wife Betty and is survived by his son Peter, of Santa Barbara, CA; daughter, Sarah (Sally), of Sausalito, CA; Peter's wife Gloria and his step children Bill Wagner of Crawfordsville, IN and Kim Ruckley of San Diego, CA, and their children Ashlyn, Alexandra, Mia, John and Trinity; niece Betty Mitchell of Lakeville, CT and her sons Donald and Tyson, nephew Francis Donovan of Salem, OR, and Patricia Petersen of Olympia, WA, and her husband Dana and their children Lillian, Reid and Iris. Memorial donations may be made in his name to the San Francisco SPCA or a charity of your choice.