Roderick W. Slater

1937 - 2019

Roderick W. Slater obituary, 1937-2019, Augusta, ME

BORN

1937

DIED

2019

Roderick Slater Obituary

LEXINGTON, Va. - Roderick W. Slater, born April 24, 1937 in Goodrich, Mich., passed away in Lexington, Va. on June 25, 2019. His widowed mother raised him and his brother in her boarding house with a 24 hour bridge game playing out in the kitchen and a dozen WW2 vets as big brothers. He had travelled with her on a Greyhound bus to all 48 states before he was 12 years old. After spending two years in the army, he moved to Manhattan where he became audio visual director at Shell Oil.

After the birth of his daughter, he transferred with the company to Houston before relocating to the wilds of central Maine in the early 1970s to start a small farm so that she could learn where eggs come from. Among his many accomplishments during his 30 year residency, he started a small neighborhood school and discovered, somewhat by luck, that he could make a living from the artwork he had been passionately making his whole life. He lived out his final decade in Buena Vista, Va. embracing the natives, tempered four seasons, and bucolic Blue Ridge mountains.

Roderick Slater listened to people. All who knew him would agree that he knew how to listen. In many cases, it may have been the first time in their lives a person really listened to them. He was the stranger that entered one's life, knowing how to question and provoke your imagination to another level of perception. This guy from the Midwest who came to the coast with a dreamy plains innocence, who revelled in baseball, industry, and art. That eastern shoreline honed those prairie skills as his natural curiosity overturned stones no matter where he went.

He directly touched the lives of hundreds of people; encouraging young people to pursue arts careers and live more intellectually rigorous lives. He helped thousands of people indirectly as those mentees payed forward the things he so generously taught; always for free, informally and with an abiding, if sometimes cantankerous, respect for the individual in front of him. His stitch in the rich fabric of human solidarity joins in the warp and weft of the long struggle toward a richer and more interesting humanity. He was deeply loved. We hope he has left us with enough bread crumbs in literature, philosophy and his 17,000 finished pieces of artwork, to lead us to the essential questions we could always rely on him to ask.

Rod was preceded in death by his parents, Clara (Brandt) and John Slater of Lansing and Flint, Mich.; and his brother and sister-in-law, Rev. John and Alice Slater of Lincoln Park, Mich.

He is survived by his daughter, Valerie Slater; son-in-law; two grandchildren he adored; his former wife; and two nephews.

Condolences may be sent to the family via: [email protected]

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne ceaselessly into the past"

-The Great Gatsby

Memorial donations can be made to:

Rockbridge Area Hospice

315 Myers St.

Lexington, VA 24450

Published by Central Maine on Jul. 7, 2019.
34465541-95D0-45B0-BEEB-B9E0361A315A

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Memories and Condolences
for Roderick Slater

Sponsored by Sarah Bean White.

Not sure what to say?





Dear Valerie, I´m so sorry about the news about Roderick. My husband, John was your Dad´s cousin and he told me many memories about your Father. I have this album that was made by your Grandmother, Clara that I´d like to get to you. It was made for your Father. Please email me at [email protected].

Love, Karen Slater

Karen Slater

Family

March 2, 2023

Ah, the conversations we used to have. What a great friendship it grew to be I really miss him.

Lewis Graybill

Friend

November 8, 2022

ROD

He just smiled, looking at me, a bit sideways, his eyes piercing, but searching, urging me to search. That was in the fall of 1978 at the Atlanta outdoor arts festival. I had been drawn in and captured by Prophesy and ultimately asked what does it mean?. He just smiled.a bit of a grin, really.

Thirty years later, in Philadelphia a few blocks from Independence Hall, a knock at our door: Rod. The next few days would be different than I had planned. Over the years, a knock at the door: Rod. Searching. His. Mine. Listening, but more. Respecting. Drawing out. Challenging. Listening powerfully.

One warm fall evening on the front porch of a 1920s bungalow in Atlanta I watched Rod work. Or, more accurately, gazed while conversing undulated and the piece, the object, came into being assembled by apparent slight-of-hand from an array of disparate flotsam previously pulled from the unknown depths of his rusty blue van. It wasnt; then it was.

Watching Rod singe the edge of a tissue paper square with a glowing cigarette.

Driving in upstate NY with Linda. Yup, there they are: Slater clouds. And, I am transported meteorologically, metaphysically, mystically to a rectilinear world of theme and endless variation and repetition, windows and doors, looking, revealing, hiding, itching.

Evening. My HiFi transmuting tiny vinyl furrows to mechanical vibrations to electrical oscillations to pulsing air, our ears and neurons reciprocating: Mahlers Second - The Resurrection My friend David: Thats just like your (Rods) painting. Prophesy From a distance a simple flat geometry: a vertical black rectangle punctuated by an gray-white disk and a mottled white vertical line, the two rotating about an unseen pivot balanced tip-toe above an olive colored bottom band. Closer, closer, the band emerges, resolves into a bucolic landscape, the bright line, daytime splitting night, lumpy clouds on light blue with tiny green fields below; the disc, floating in the black night sky reveals a geodesic-like moon hovering above the sleeping wakeful fecund countryside. But, closer, closer, the pentimento of faces emerge, constellations, some distinct, some dim, some flickering Tam o Shanter like. Just like Rod.

Walt Lowthian

July 26, 2019

Valerie I am so sad to hear about your father's passing.. we were all so proud of him and his artwork.. it was wonderful to have seen him at our class reunion..
Bless you for sharing this information with us. Sincerely Carol Ashmun Taylor class of 55.

Carol Ashmun Taylor

July 26, 2019

To all of those who knew and loved Rod, I offer my deepest condolences. I am who I am today because I met him. I was forever changed for the better. I am quite sure he had that effect on near everyone who knew him. Rod, thank you for everything and rest my man. For you the first day and the last:
...O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise upfor you the flag is flungfor you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreathsfor you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning... -Walt Whitman

Trisha Morey

July 8, 2019

To Valerie, our condolences to you and family. I pray that you find comfort in the days ahead, with love, Ernestine and Ishama.

July 7, 2019

Dear Pat,

Just wanted to let you know that I am thinking of you and Valerie today. May the memories of Rod bring you comfort and the love of family surround you during this time of sorrow.

With prayers,
Dina Blanchard-O'Gara

July 7, 2019

Valerie and Pat, Sorry to hear about Rod. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. Boots

Eileen Blanchard

July 7, 2019

I never knew Mr. Slater, but fell in love with him after reading his obituary in the Kennebec Journal a newspaper in central Maine. Thank you for letting us know this remarkable man.

Gayle Warren

July 7, 2019

Showing 1 - 9 of 9 results

Make a Donation
in Roderick Slater's name

Memorial Events
for Roderick Slater

To offer your sympathy during this difficult time, you can now have memorial trees planted in a National Forest in memory of your loved one.

How to support Roderick's loved ones
Commemorate a cherished Veteran with a special tribute of Taps at the National WWI Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The nightly ceremony in Washington, D.C. will be dedicated in honor of your loved one on the day of your choosing.

Read more
Attending a Funeral: What to Know

You have funeral questions, we have answers.

Read more
Should I Send Sympathy Flowers?

What kind of arrangement is appropriate, where should you send it, and when should you send an alternative?

Read more
What Should I Write in a Sympathy Card?

We'll help you find the right words to comfort your family member or loved one during this difficult time.

Read more
Resources to help you cope with loss
How to Write an Obituary

Need help writing an obituary? Here's a step-by-step guide...

Read more
Estate Settlement Guide

If you’re in charge of handling the affairs for a recently deceased loved one, this guide offers a helpful checklist.

Read more
Obituaries, grief & privacy: Legacy’s news editor on NPR podcast

Legacy's Linnea Crowther discusses how families talk about causes of death in the obituaries they write.

Read more
The Five Stages of Grief

They're not a map to follow, but simply a description of what people commonly feel.

Read more
Ways to honor Roderick Slater's life and legacy
How to Write an Obituary

Need help writing an obituary? Here's a step-by-step guide...

Read more
Obituary Templates

These free blank templates make writing an obituary faster and easier.

Read more
Obituary Examples

You may find these well-written obituary examples helpful as you write about your own family.

Read more
How Do I Write a Eulogy?

Some basic help and starters when you have to write a tribute to someone you love.

Read more