ELAINE SLATER

Our beloved Elaine Ruth Wechsler Slater died on September 28, 2025, at home in Toronto, surrounded by her family. She was 100. A writer and interior designer who combined a passion for storytelling with a commitment to justice, Elaine brought kindness, humor, and generosity to everything she did. Born May 15, 1925, in New York City, Elaine described herself as naturally shy. She remembers being coaxed out of that reserve when, at the age of 16, she fell in love with James Slater, the outgoing 17-year-old who would become her husband. Elaine and Jimmy married in 1944. After Jimmy finished his military service during World War II, they rarely spent a day apart. They were married for 78 years until his death in 2022. Before marrying Jimmy, Elaine made him promise that she would be able to finish college. She did that and more: she completed her bachelor's degree at Smith College and a master's degree in comparative literature at Columbia University. A woman of boundless creativity and style, Elaine started an interior design firm with her mother-in-law as she raised her four children. She wrote prodigiously, especially mystery stories, several of which were published in Ellery Queen magazine and in story collections from the U.S. to Japan. She authored three books on needlepoint. In 1970, Elaine and Jimmy left the United States for Canada, pushed by a deepening dissatisfaction with the Vietnam War and the slow progress of the civil rights movement. In Toronto, Elaine continued her interior design work and opened a needlepoint store. Elaine lived her values. In the 1960s, she was active in the Congress of Racial Equality, or CORE, a major civil rights group. Later, she chaired Operation Lifeline, a path-breaking initiative that brought tens of thousands of refugees from Southeast Asia to Canada. She personally sponsored refugee families with whom she remained very close until her death. She was a longtime member of the board of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. Elaine loved to travel, read novels, play piano, and do puzzles. She made her own acrostics and scavenger hunts. In games of solitaire, there was no fiercer competitor. She wrote plays and started an amateur drama group. She created beautiful homes, both for her family and her clients. Until the end, she remained engaged with the world, and each day started with reading this newspaper. Above all, she was devoted to her children and grandchildren, and to helping others. To paraphrase scripture, she gave freely to those in need, and her righteousness endures forever. Elaine was cherished by so many, starting with her family: Jimmy; her four children, Michael, Kenneth, Lisa, and Abigail, and their partners, whom she treated as her children, Kathy, Maria, Brenda, Howard, and Morry; her nine grandchildren, Nathaniel, Joanna, Simon, Aaron, Eli, Alexander, Alexis, Maya, and Emma; and her 13 great-grandchildren, Miles, Leo, Lara, Boaz, Josephine, Kathy, Cora, Ezra, Julia, Zvi, Alice, Eva, and Lena. Her family is deeply grateful for the care that she received in her last years from Zoraya, Cora, Joy, Femarie, and April, as well as for Luisa's long friendship. Drs. Eugenie Fan and Konia Trouten were wonderful caregivers and helped fulfil her final wish. Please send donations to the Dr. Howard Ovens Chair in Emergency Medicine at the Sinai Health Foundation or the Clayton Ruby Fund at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. A memorial service to celebrate Elaine's life will take place later. May her memory be a blessing.