WILLIAM JAMES SLATER

12.19.2019
Manhattan Morning

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Larchmont Evening

New York Times Obituary
William James Slater, Mamaroneck Business Owner and son of the former Chief of Police of the Westchester County Parkway and Director of Civil Defense William James Slater, Sr. (d.1955), died on Thursday, December 12 at White Plains Hospital in Westchester.
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Born on November 21, 1949 in Bronxville, “Jamie” Slater grew up on 42 Harmon Drive in Larchmont prior to moving to 221B Larchmont Acres. He attended St. Augustine’s grammar school, Salesian High School where he ran on the track team, and SUNY Plattsburgh where he majored in English. In the early 1980s, shortly after his mother’s passing, he started the Paramount Taxi & Limousine business with his wife Rosalia, still in operation today. For 15 years, he was a baseball coach in the Larchmont/Mamaroneck little league and for travel teams throughout the county. He is featured in the background of Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” at minute 8:00 as father to a Police Academy graduate in Yonkers.
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His mother was Anne Adelaide Ryan (d.1979), the daughter of Delia Cunningham (d.1942) whose family immigrated from County Waterford, Ireland to Yonkers in the 1860s, and Daniel Ryan (d.1949) of Yonkers. His grandmother on his father’s side was Mary J. (O’Donnell) Slater (d.1956) who immigrated from Dublin, Ireland to Yonkers at the turn of the century. His grandfather was Michael F. Slater (d.1934) who had 10 children, many killed during World War I, and who in 1890 was honorably discharged as Sergeant of the US Army’s 69th Infantry Regiment, part of the New York Army National Guard (christened the “Fighting Sixty-Ninth” by Robert E. Lee during the Civil War after he watched his forces suffer a resounding Union victory at the Battle of Malvern Hill).
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He is survived by his widow Mrs. Rosalia (Correa) Slater; his son, an attorney, Mr. Dennis Michael Slater of Larchmont; and his sister Ms. Michelle A. Slater of Larchmont.
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Visitations will occur today at John J. Fox Funeral Home in Larchmont from 2-4pm and 7-9pm

Service will occur on Friday at St. Augustine’s Church in Larchmont at 10am, followed by interment at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Yonkers.

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Personal Notes

At my request, my good friend Margaritta accompanied me in the car my Nephew sent to pick us up here in Manhattan and take us to the funeral home in Larchmont where my Sister in Law Rosa and Nephew Dennis, plus many relatives, associates and friends of theirs were paying last respects.

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Although the brother I knew as 'Jamie' for seventy years was no longer there, seeing his body in the coffin was a sharp moment that pierced me, made the end very real and feelings rise. In the past several decades we had seen little of each other. Individual lives make demands on all of us that often keep us apart.

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I've actually been preparing for this in some way since our May 12th Mothers Day meeting when he outlined the serious details of his health and hope for treatments.

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Throughout, his son Dennis has been extraordinary and when Jamie became critical, he took a leave from his law job and moved from his Manhattan apartment up to New Rochelle to be with his mother for a month. They were together at the hospital for the two and 1/2 days and nights while a team of doctors attempted to revive him. Dennis has been primarily responsible for the complex arrangement of events, completion of various paperwork, permissions and legal details that arrive with death. He is also the one who kept in touch with everyone involved and I can never thank him enough for his skill and dedication.

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Home Again

On my return here, I lay down for a minute and other than the act of lying down fully dressed, sleep was involuntary. Woke at 1 a.m. to transfer photographs and do this post. I'm feeling battered.

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I will not be attending the Mass in the morning, nor will I be present for the burial in that section of St.Josephs cemetery where my Father, Mother and Aunts are buried. I haven't been back there since dad died in 1955 and do not want to be present for this auspicious occasion when many others will be attending. They will be fine without me and they seemed to understand and accept my absence.

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I hope to visit sometime in the Spring.

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12.20.2019
Winter Solstice

https://youtu.be/eOx9quc-iow