Obituary of Isabel Vera Slator

Slator, Isabel Vera (Spencer) Isabel Slator, 92, died January 28 in New Hope. Isabel was born September 15, 1929, to James and Elizabeth (Keating) Spencer in Winnipeg, Canada. In 1951 she married Michael Slator, whom she met at a business school where she was preparing to be a secretary and he was studying accounting. Michael’s work took them to Toronto and then to the Twin Cities, where Isabel lived for 58 years in Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park. Neither of their families had had the resources to send their children to college, and Isabel and Michael put a great emphasis on their own children being able to do so. When Michael died in 1973, Isabel was a stay-at-home mom with three of their four children still living at home. After a period of mourning, Isabel rallied, went back to work, and ensured that her children always had what they needed. She worked for more than 20 years for Powers Regulator, later known as Siemens Technology, and was an active member of the National Association of Women in Construction. Isabel was a great reader, traveler, music lover, and sports fan.  After she retired, Isabel filled her time with volunteer work for, among others, the Community Emergency Action Program, Meals on Wheels, and the North Memorial Hospital Professional Education office, where Isabel was still volunteering after her 90th birthday. She got great satisfaction from knowing she was being useful. Isabel is preceded in death by her husband Michael, her brothers Donald and Robert, and by her eldest son Brian. She is survived by her daughter-in-law Rita Slator, daughter Nancy Slator and her husband Daniel Grubbs, son Kevin and his wife Peggy O’Leary, son Patrick and his wife Shelley, 10 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. The memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Friday, February 18, at the Cremation Society of Minnesota, 7835 Brooklyn Blvd., Brooklyn Park, with a luncheon to follow. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for gifts to the North Memorial Foundation in Robbinsdale.