Thelma E. Slater

Thelma E. Slater, age 92 of Massillon, passed away on Sunday, November 24, 2013. She was born on June 21, 1921 in Massillon and was the daughter of the late Henry and Malvina (Pesse) Tournay. Thelma was a 1938 graduate of Washington High School, she went on to earn her teaching degree at the former Mount Union College and then her M. Ed. at Kent State University. She was a teacher and counselor for Canton City Schools for 59 years. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Stark County Teachers Association, the Washington High School Distinguished Citizen Award, the U.S. Secretary of Education Award for Family Literacy and the Outstanding Teacher for Canton City Schools. She initiated the first elementary school counseling program, the career education program and the family literacy program for the Canton city school system. She was a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church and an associate member of Faith Lutheran Church for many years. Along with her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, John E. Slater in 1992, her sisters, Flora Cecil, Adele Zehnder and Louise Donze and her brother Joseph Tournay. She is survived by her son, Niall Slater of Decatur, GA and loving nieces and nephews. A service to celebrate the life of Thelma Slater will take place on Wednesday at 10:00 A.M. at Faith Lutheran Church with Pastor Elaina Styblo officiating. Burial will follow at Massillon Cemetery. Friends may call at the Paquelet & Arnold-Lynch Funeral Home on Tuesday from 6-8 P.M. and at the church on Wednesday from 9-10 A.M. Memorials are suggested to Faith Lutheran Church, 107-6th Street SW, Massillon, OH 44647 or the Mayor's Literacy Commission of Canton, 715 Market Avenue North, Canton, OH 44702. Paquelet & Arnold-Lynch Funeral Home & Crematory 330-833-4839