Born November 11, 1919 to Alfred and Ellen Thomas in Brooklyn, Gladys lived her early years in New York City. She met her future husband, Herschel Slater, when he was an aviation cadet in the Army/Air Force teaching meteorology at New York University. When they married in 1943, little did she know that her life as an Air Force officer’s wife would take her to so many far-flung places throughout the world.

After five years of marriage, Gladys found herself in a snow-covered house in remote Anchorage Alaska, two toddlers at her knee, looking out the kitchen window at a moose - certainly a far cry from the hustle-bustle of her familiar New York City. Other military assignments, which provided opportunities for exploration and adventure included Okinawa, California, Alabama, Illinois, and Nebraska. After his retirement with the Air Force, Herschel eventually joined the Environmental Protection Agency at the Research Triangle in North Carolina and the family settled in Chapel Hill. Despite the frequent moves, Gladys always created a home filled with love and support for her husband and four daughters.

A woman with a zest for life and a lover of the arts, Gladys studied painting, flower-arranging, gardening and design, interior decorating, sewing, and cooking. Proud of her musical Welsh background, she loved to sing and always found a place for herself in church choirs, and even in an award-winning choral group in Nebraska. Dancing, too, was a love. Her girls have fond memories of their mom dancing the Lindy in the kitchen with pots boiling on the stove.

Gladys is survived by her husband of 69 years, Herschel, of Carol Woods Retirement Community in Chapel Hill and four daughters, Leslie Reardon (David), Chapel Hill, Ellen Dement, Chapel Hill, Nancy Powell (Gary) Portland, Oregon, Lynn Miller (Greg) Cold Spring, New York. She has seven grandchildren and ten great grand children.

A funeral service will be held 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, August 14th at the Chapel of the Cross, 304 E. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill. A reception will follow at 3:00 p.m. in the social lounge at Carol Woods.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Chapel of the Cross, in memory of Gladys Slater (304 E. Franklin St., Chapel Hill, NC 27514) or to the North Carolina Botanical Gardens (UNC- Chapel Hill, Campus Box 3375, Chapel Hill, NC 27500-3375).