ELAINE SLATER

SLATER--Elaine Ruth Wechsler, died 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, Elaine fell in love with James Slater when she was 16 and he was 17. They married in 1944. After Jimmy finished his military service during World War Two, they rarely spent a day apart. They were married for 78 years until his death in 2022. Elaine 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 as she raised her four children. She wrote prodigiously, especially mystery stories, several of which were published in story collections from the U.S. to Japan. She authored The New York Times Book of Needlepoint, the first of three books she wrote on the craft. In the 1960s, she was active in the Congress of Racial Equality, or CORE, a major civil rights group. Later, after moving to Toronto, she chaired Operation Lifeline, a pathbreaking initiative that brought tens of thousands of refugees from Southeast Asia to Canada. Elaine loved to travel, read novels, play piano and do puzzles. Above all, she was devoted to her family and to helping others. To paraphrase scripture, she gave freely to those in need, and her righteousness endures forever. Elaine was cherished by many, especially her family: Jimmy; her four children, Michael, Kenneth, Lisa and Abigail, and their partners, Kathy, Maria, Brenda, Howard and Morry; her nine grandchildren, Nathaniel, Joanna, Simon, Aaron, Eli, Alexander, Alexis, Maya and Emma; and her 13 great-grandchildren. May her memory be a blessing.