Carolyn Margaret (Custer) Slack

GORHAM – Carolyn Margaret (Custer) Slack passed away peacefully in her sleep at the age of 90 on May 30, 2022, with her loving family by her side. She was born Sept. 29, 1931, in Lansing, Michigan to Richard Nicholas Custer and Allura Elizabeth (Exelby) Custer. Carolyn graduated from Lansing’s Eastern High School in 1949, then attended Albion College in Albion, Michigan for two-and-a-half years. She met her future husband, Royal “Corky” Grant Slack, a graduate of the Lansing’s Sexton High School during a chance meeting when Corky was giving his sister, Mary, a ride home from work and she offered Carolyn a ride.Carolyn and Corky Slack were married a year and half later on March 30, 1953. Following their wedding, the young couple made their first home at Fort Knox, Kentucky. When Corky was deployed to Korea with the U.S. Army for 18 months, Carolyn moved back to Michigan, finished her degree at Michigan State College earning her Bachelor of Arts degree and Teaching Certificate in 1954, and began teaching in the Lansing Public School System. She continued teaching while they made their next home on the Michigan State College campus, in married housing, while they started their family and Corky began to work toward his degree.Carolyn and Corky celebrated their 69th anniversary in March of 2022. They had a happy marriage living in Kentucky, Michigan, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Florida, and Maine. Carolyn lived for her family. It was the most important part of her life.Carolyn was creative, artistic, and an animated storyteller. She was well known to humor an audience of 100-plus campers and staff at Mystic Lake YMCA Camp, as well as entertaining smaller birthday parties or family reunions with Spoonerism’s fables and fairy tales, “making your cresh fleep.” Carolyn made many of her children’s clothes. She loved needle point, painting, and sketching, and was able to wallpaper rooms with Corky with nary an argument. She often said that was the test of a good marriage … being able to wallpaper together. She loved animals and helped her children to love, feed, and care for them too. And she allowed a constant menagerie to share her home. In addition to the usual dogs, cats, and goldfish, the wide variety also included frogs, snakes, rats, rabbits, ducks, guinea pigs, and even a South American coati mundi. In addition to being a wife, mother, and teacher, Carolyn also worked at the New Hampshire State YMCA, New Hampshire Nurses Association, and Havenwood Nursing Home, all in Concord, N.H. Carolyn loved the arts and volunteered on many play/musical presentations in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. She shared that one of her favorite experiences was working on “Annie” – we never knew if it was because of the story itself or if it was the actor, “Sandy” the dog, she loved more. She also volunteered delivering books and magazines at the hospital in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, bringing respite and a smile to patients’ day.Carolyn was preceded in death by her father, mother, and her seven-year-old brother, Richard Alan Custer. She is survived by her husband, Royal (Corky) and their four children, Chris of Dimondale, Mich., Rick and his wife, Donna of Oxford, Bill and his wife, Lyn of Cape Elizabeth, and Cathy of Bradford, N.H.; seven much-loved grandchildren, Jennifer, Scott, Emily, Tyler, Amanda, Melissa, and Allura; and eight great-grandchildren. She also leaves behind her beloved sister, Mary Sue (Custer) Shawnee and her husband, Charlie, and their three children, Charlie, Susie and Jon. Other surviving members brought into her life by marriage, are sister-in-law, Mary Slack Smith, brother-in-law, John Slack and his wife Nancy, sister-in-law, Robin Slack, and 24 nieces and nephews.A private service and celebration of life will be held by immediate family. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at http://www.jonesrichandbarnes.com for the Slack family.In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation in Carolyn’s name to a charity of choice.