Donald "Slates" Slater

Donald “Slates” Slater, 71, of Rock Island, died on Saturday, May 18, 2019 at Heartland Health Care, Moline.

Visitation will be on Thursday, May 23, 2019 from 4-6 p.m. at Kirk, Huggins and Esterdahl Funeral Home, Ltd. in Orion, Illinois.  A grave side service will be 10 a.m. on Friday, May 24, 2019 at Western Township Cemetery.  Memorials may be made to the family.

Don was born on June 4, 1947 in Moline, Illinois the son of Chet and Jane Thompson Slater.  He graduated from Orion High School in 1965 where he participated in football, basketball and baseball.  His football team was inducted into the Orion High School Hall of Fame in 2010.  He went on to attend Black Hawk College where he played baseball; he later graduated from Southern Illinois University.

After College he worked for Nachusa Lutheran Home for boys in Dixon, Illinois; then for the Illinois Department of Public Aid in Rock Island County as a social worker.  He then moved to Gaffney, South Carolina and worked as a Case manager for family services.  Upon returning to Illinois he was self-employed with Don’s Distributing until his retirement.

Don enjoyed family gatherings, holiday meals and meeting many of his friends at Kavanaughs Hilltop Tap, Sam’s Take Time and Poor Boy’s Pizza and Pub.

Don was an avid sports fan with his favorite teams being the Atlanta Braves, Green Bay Packers, Illinois and Notre Dame.

Survivors include; Brother, Dan (Debbie) Slater; Niece, Crystal (Jason) Terry; Nephew, Kyle (Ashley) Slater; and many great nieces and nephews; Ava Terry, Cavan Terry, Clara Terry, Landon Spellious and Eden Slater.

He was preceded in death by his parents and niece, Ashley Jane Slater.