James O. Slaughter

James Orem Slaughter died on Thursday, January 7, 2010. He was 87. Mr. Slaughter was born on November 5, 1922 to the late, Eugene Orem and Ernestine Webb Slaughter in Trappe. He graduated from Trappe High School in 1939 and, in 1942, began serving in the Army Air Corps. On December 31, 1943, he married his wife, Jean Spray, who preceded him in death in 1996. After returning to Trappe, Mr. Slaughter worked as a block and brick layer. In 1960, he began working for the State of Maryland Department of Employment Security, working with farm laborers, primarily mid and lower Eastern Shore, from which he retired in the early 1980s. On October 16, 1999, he married his second wife, Doris Baynard Riley. Mr. Slaughter was a founding member of the Ward Foundation, which administers the Museum of Wildfowl Art in Salisbury, MD. He served on the Board of Directors and became the Foundation’s first Lifetime Member. His lifelong passion was carving and painting decoys. He helped start the carving competition in Ocean City. He was also active in the American Legion, Dorchester Art Center and baseball, coaching Little League, Pony League, and American Legion Leagues in Trappe, Oxford, and Easton in the 1960s and 1970s. Jim and Doris attended the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Easton, MD. In addition to his wife, Doris, Mr. Slaughter is survived by five children; Gail Loscomb Nightingale (James) of Finksburg, MD, James Rodney Slaughter (Barbara) of Trappe, William Raymond Slaughter (Phyllis) of Trappe, Glenn Orem Baker Slaughter (Kathy) of Quantico, MD, and Margaret Ellen Slaughter of Mayer, AZ; three sisters: Ida Hickman, Estelle Slaughter, and Elizabeth Slaughter; fourteen grandchildren; forty great-grandchildren; and eleven great-great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Mary Elizabeth Grunden Rippier. A funeral service will be held at the Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, P.A. in Easton at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 13, 2010. Friends may call at the funeral home on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 from 6:00 until 8:00 pm. Burial will be held at the Maryland Eastern Shore Veterans Cemetery in Hurlock, MD. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Talbot Hospice Foundation, 586 Cynwood Drive, Easton, MD 21601. Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, P.A., 200 South Harrison Street, Easton, MD 21601. 410-822-3131

James O. Slaughter

November 5, 1922 - January 7, 2010