John McAdory Slaughter Jr.

John McAdory Slaughter Jr. of Birmingham, Ala., died Friday, July 21, 2023, after a long illness at 76 years of age.

He was born to Dr. John McAdory Slaughter Sr. and Molly Powell Slaughter on June 20, 1947, at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, Md. The family returned to Alabama, first to Talladega, then to Birmingham, where John grew up.

John served in the United States Navy from January 1966 to October 1969 when he was honorably separated at the rank of petty officer second class. He went on to the University of Alabama, graduating in 1974 with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering.

After graduation, he began a long career that ranged from construction management, design and fabrication of large-scale steel containment vessels and facilities management, including extensive work in Latin America, primarily Costa Rica. He worked on a consulting basis for the University of Alabama at Birmingham and then full-time at Eternal Word Television Network.

Family always came first for John, but he lived with an adventurous spirit dating back to his teenage years working on the construction of an Outward Bound camp in Minnesota. That carried on through his Navy service when he was stationed at length in Morocco, where he ran a Boy Scout troop for service members' children in Rabat. He saved up leave to explore Europe for weeks at a time, and his photos of faraway people and places always thrilled his younger siblings at home. Through his work, he made friendships with counterparts in Costa Rica, a country he enjoyed visiting for personal travel as well. In his 20s, he and his friend Doug Blackford were known to set off cross-country riding tandem on a Norton 650 motorcycle. Later, he took extensive road trips all over America, often in the company of one or both of his sons Ben and John III. Those experiences gave John a wealth of stories that he told with humor, a healthy sense of self-deprecation and great timing.

John is survived by his wife, Tucker McGowin Slaughter; sons Benjamin Myles (Lauren) Slaughter of Birmingham and John McAdory Slaughter III of Chicago; sisters Celia Huston of Peaks Island, Maine, and Ellen (Jim) Bulkley of Miami Fla.; brothers Myles Powell (Gena) Slaughter of New Hope Township, N.C., and Robert Davidson (Tracy) Slaughter of McCalla, Ala.; and grandchildren Samuel Goodwin, Eleanor Alice and Lucille Green Slaughter.

A memorial service celebrating John's life will be held at 10 a.m., Wednesday, July 26, at Our Lady of Angels chapel on the Eternal Word Television Network campus located at 5817 Old Leeds Rd., Birmingham, Ala. 35210. Visitation will follow. A private family graveside service will take place later in Brewton, Ala.

Memorial donations can be made to Eternal Word Television Network at ewtn.com.