By the Family

May 6, 2015:  C. Paul Slater of Montecito, California, and Greensboro, Vermont, went home to be with the Lord on Monday, April 27, at the age of 96.

Born in 1918 in Cherokee, Iowa, he grew up in the college environment of the University of Iowa and the University of Illinois, where his father served for many years.

Boy Scouts was a highlight of his early years, and he earned Silver Palm Eagle. The Scout maxim "leave your campsite better than you found it" guided Paul's life, as he sought through service to improve each community, organization, and business with which he was associated.

He graduated in 1940 from the University of Illinois, where as a member of the inaugural varsity ice hockey team he scored its very first goal; he also served in R.O.T.C. and was an enthusiastic member of Phi Delta Theta. He was called to active duty at the U.S. Naval Training Station in Great Lakes, IL, following graduation and subsequently served as lieutenant commander in Washington, DC, and Pearl Harbor.

With the termination of WWII, Paul relocated to New York City and joined Time & Life, where he met his wife of 64 years, Susan. He entered the emerging advertising agency business in the late 1950s, subsequently serving as senior vice president of international operations for Compton Advertising and leading the acquisition or expansion of 30 overseas branch offices. He served on the board of the International Advertising Association in the 1960s.

He completed his career in the executive search field, including establishing his own firm, C. Paul Slater & Associates, and helped many national businesses and nonprofits to hire qualified senior executives.

Paul and his wife, Susan, lived for 35 years in her hometown of Bronxville with their two children, Scott and Sara. He was deeply involved in community activities, and, among other activities, served as president of the Bronxville Field Club and elder of The Reformed Church of Bronxville. Accepting a request to teach a ninth-grade boys' confirmation class "for one year," he taught countless boys for over a dozen years.

In 1968, he was elected to the board of trustees of the Village of Bronxville and served two terms as mayor in the mid-1970s. The Slaters spent part of every summer in their lake cottage in northern Vermont.

After many happy, productive years in Bronxville, the Slaters relocated to Santa Barbara in 1988, where they became involved in community affairs in their beloved community of Montecito. He served as president of the Stonehenge Homeowners Association, was on the board of the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Barbara, and was an elder of the Montecito Presbyterian Church and member of the board of the presbytery for Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo counties. For many years he was active in church planning strategy and initiatives for the presbytery.

Paul is survived by his beloved wife, Susan, with whom he celebrated 64 years of marriage the week before he died, and his children and their spouses, J. Scott and Karen Slater of Minneapolis, Sara Slater and Martin McDonald of Seattle, and two grandchildren, Timothy Slater of Chicago and Kelly Slater of Boston. 

Services will be held on Saturday, May 9, at 2:00 pm at El Montecito Presbyterian Church, and a family memorial service will be held in Greensboro, Vermont, in late summer. 

In lieu of flowers, donations in Paul's memory may be made to El Montecito Presbyterian Church, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, or a charity of the donor's choice.

Photo of C. Paul Slater by Fabian Bachrach