The Rev. James Cooper Simmons Slack, Seabury Western Class of 1964, died suddenly of natural causes on Saturday, March 26, 2022 at Lakeland Community Hospital in Niles, Michigan, aged 85.
Born February 23, 1937, in St. Louis, Missouri as the only child of Morris Cooper and Dorothy Eleanor (Simmons) Slack, after graduating high school, Slack enlisted in the U.S. Army. It was in the Army that he served as the assistant to the chaplain and started his work in the ministry which led to a lifetime of serving as an Episcopal Priest. He graduated from Earlham College and went on to attend Seabury-Western where he received his Bachelor of Divinity Degree.
It was while attending seminary Slack would meet the love of his life, Karen M. Fricke and the two were married on August 31, 1963, at St. Augustine Episcopal Church in Benton Harbor, Michigan.
Slack received his first calling to the White Earth Indian Reservation as well as St. John’s Episcopal Church in Hutchison, Minnesota. He continued his missions work with the Chippewa Indian Tribe while at the Lower Sioux Indian Reservation. A few years later he and his wife would move to Cincinnati where he would serve three congregations. He then accepted a call to pastor at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church for over 18 years in Circleville, Ohio and then, a few years later moved to Mexico, Missouri serving the church there. From there the Slacks took the call to pastor three churches in Mt. Pleasant, Texas. After retirement Slack and his wife moved to Niles, Michigan where he was the Priest in Charge at Trinity Episcopal Church until a full-time pastor could be named.
Slack was an avid reader and collected British toy soldiers his entire lifetime. He was very artistic and spent countless hours building model airplanes and enjoyed gardening. He was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his wife, Karen Slack of Niles; his children, Corrine (Tim) Slack-Lane of Marysville, Ohio, Valerie (Dan) Slack-Hugus of Circleville, Ohio and John Cooper Simmons (Michelle) Slack of Mishawaka, Indiana; five grandchildren, Joseph Hugus (McKayla Swackhammer) of Ashville, Ohio, Reed Hugus (Kaylyn Carroll) of Lancaster, Ohio, Jacob Slack of Indianapolis, Indiana, Jonah Slack of Bloomington, Indiana and Ava Corrine Slack of Mishawaka; and an adopted granddaughter, Alexis Bashara of Niles.
We are grateful to Mrs. Karen Slack for notifying us of his death and bringing to our attention that he is interred in the columbarium at the Cathedral of St. James in South Bend, Indiana, where services were held April 24, 2022.