IS KILLED BY TRAIN
ON NUNICA TRACKS
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Banker, Supervisor, Business
Leader Walks Into Side Of
Grand Trunk Locomotive
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Nunica, Jan. 2, 1932 -William E. Slater, cashier of Nunica State bank, Crockery township supervisor and officer in several Ottawa County companies, was instantly killed early this afternoon when he walked into the side of the engine of a Grand Trunk freight train that was passing through this village.
Eye witnesses of the tragedy were Arthur Miller, a bookeeper employed in the same building with the bank, who was standing on the bank steps only a few feet from the crossing waiting for Mr. Slater to reopen the bank after the the noon recess, and Sidney Dobson, 14, who was on the street. Miller said he noticed Slater leave his home only a few feet south of the tracks. His head was down and he seemed preoccupied. He said Slater was slightly deaf. Engine Whistles
The engine whistled, Miller said, and the bell was ringing, the train was pulling slowly through the village. Slater did not cross directly but took a cross cut to the other side of the road and walked directly into the driving wheels of the engine. The train was Westbound.
Mr. Slater had been in the best of spirits. He visited his mother, Mrs. Donna M. Slater, 86 years old, who lives with a daughter, Mrs. Peter Leenvter in Grand Rapids, last night. Mrs. Slater left on Christmas day to spend the winter with a son, Sergt. Vernor Slater, U.S.A., at Fort Houston, Tex. The family was preparing to to move to-day to a farm on U.S.-16 just a few miles from Nunica. They had resided here the last twenty years. Cashier For Fifteen Years.
Mr. Slater was elected to the board of supervisors in 1930 and was chairman of the finance committee. He assisted in the organization of the Nunica bank about 15 years ago and has been its cashier since that time. His son is assistant cashier.
Mr. Slater was treasurer of the Ottawa Petroleum company, vice president of the Builtwell corporation of Spring Lake and a director of the Nunica school board. He was born in Paris township Nov. 29, 1869, and received his early education in the rural schools. He later attended a business collage in Grand Rapids. He also was a mining engineer and spent many years in Colorado and Idaho. He lived in Missouri as a farmer several years, coming back to Michigan 20 years ago. During his residence in Crockery township he established himself as its leading citizen. He was a man of striking personality and keen business judgment and was held in high esteem by his associates. The loss of his son, Robert, World war veteran who had received three citations for bravery overseas, and who died suddenly in the Consumers Power company plant at Muskegon Heights, was a deep blow.
Mr. Slater was a member of the Nunica M.E. Church and a leader in all village activities. He married his wife in 1893. Besides the widow and his mother he is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Viola O'Leary of Ann Arbor; four sons, Roalf E., Nunica; Willard, Detroit; Russel, South Bend, Ind., and Vernor, Fort Houston, Texas, and the following sisters and brothers: Mrs. Peter Leentver, Grand Rapids; Mrs. W.T.Schafer, Grand Rapids; R. Otto Slater, Cowgill, Mo.; Mrs. E.S.McCrath, Grand Rapids, Mrs. Joseph Averill, Grand Rapids, and Henry Slater, Alto.
Funeral arrangements have not been made. A jury was impaneled this afternoon by coroner VanZantwick, comprising Earl Baldus, J.D.Borchers, Max Hart, Rufus Start, E.P.Brown and Robert Brown, all of Nunica. **********