Rev. Robert R. Slack Jr.
By Staff
March 29, 2007
Funeral for the Rev. Robert R. Slack Jr., 81, of Hartselle was Saturday, Mar. 31, at 3 p.m. at East Highland Baptist Church with the Revs. A. Ray Lee and Walter Blackmon officiating and Peck Funeral Home directing.
Rev. Slack died Thursday, Mar. 31, 2007, at Parkway Medical Center in Decatur. He was born April 15, 1925, in Morgan County to Robert Randolph Slack Sr. and Thyra Delia Ott Slack.
Rev. Slack was a longtime Baptist leader in Morgan County where he served as associational missionary, now called director of missions, for the Morgan County Baptist Association from 1957 to 1961. He and his wife, Mary Dell Slack, celebrated their 63rd anniversary in March.
He served as pastor of eight local churches and spoke in 206 churches during his 56-year ministry. He was pastor of Danville, West Hartselle, First Austinville, Fellowship, Blue Springs, Gum Springs, Point Mallard Parkway and Ryan Baptist churches, all in Morgan County. He previously served two Mississippi congregations. He served as clerk of the Baptist Association for 21 years and was a member of the executive board of the Alabama Baptist Convention for 11 years.
He was a past Hartselle Rotarian where he served as secretary-treasurer, a member of the Brewer Lions Club for more than 20 years, a board member of the Morgan County Mental Health Association and a member of East Highland Baptist Church. He was also a U.S. Army veteran of World War II. He was attached to an amphibious engineers unit serving in the South Pacific. He celebrated his 18th birthday in the Philippines and participated in plans for the landing of the Allied Forces in Japan and World War II ended on his 20th birthday.
Rev. Slack also worked at funeral homes as bi-vocational minister, including Shelton Funeral Home in Decatur and Peck Funeral Home in Hartselle and Gober Funeral Home and Arab Heritage Funeral Home, both in Arab
He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Mary Dell Weatherford Slack of Hartselle; a son, Robert Edward Slack and wife Shirley of Hartselle; two daughters, Sue Slack Hayes and husband Bill of Hartselle and Martha Dell Mooney and husband Mike of Decatur; five grandchildren, Robert R. Slack III, Jessica M. Putnam, Marianne Hayes, Erin Hayes and Alex Mooney; and two great-grandchildren, Emma Grace Putnam and Sophie Claire Putnam. Pallbearers were Randy Blakely, Gary Peebles, Larry Winton, Rev. William R. Hayes, Jon Putnam, Larry Sivley and grandsons Alex Mooney and Randy Slack. Honorary pallbearers were ministers of the Morgan County Baptist Association. Memorials may be made to the Gideons or to the East Highland Baptist Church Building Fund.
