Obituary of Kathleen Slater

Slater, Kathleen (Kathy) Kuhn died on Thursday August 18 at her home in South Orange, NJ after a valiant struggle with cancer. She was 64. Her family will be greeting visitors on Tuesday, Aug 23rd from 6 to 9 pm at Preston Funeral Home 153 South Orange Ave., South Orange, NJ. A celebration and remembrance of her life is being planned for Fri, Sept 16th, 4 - 6PM, at the Woman's Club of Upper Montclair, 200 Cooper Ave, Montclair, NJ. Kathy was beloved by her husband of 38 years, Michael, by her children, sons, Nathaniel and Aaron, daughter, Alexis Slater Storey, grandson Miles Slater, by her parents Edward and Martha Kuhn, brothers, John and David Kuhn, her sister, Charlotte Kuhn Culberson as well as by her daughters and son- in- law, Megan, Katie and Rich. Born in Joplin MO. she moved with her family to Hutchinson KS when she was 8. She attended Hutchinson High School and Hutchinson Community College, after which she attended Kansas State College in Pittsburg, KS where she graduated with a degree in Sociology. After graduation she moved to New Haven, CT, where she met her future husband, and began a long career as a social worker for which she had a natural gift. Her professional career was devoted to protecting the welfare of abused and neglected children, first in Connecticut and later at the Essex County Court Appointed Special Advocate program (Essex County CASA) in Newark, NJ, one of the 30 largest CASA programs (of more than 1000) in the nation. She worked at Essex County CASA for more than 20 years, initially as its first case supervisor and ultimately as its director of program services and senior case supervisor. She retired two years ago intending to devote more time to gardening, learning to knit and to her children and their families. With compassion, modesty, a commitment to social justice, common sense, a wonderful sense of humor, decency, self assurance and extraordinary people skills she touched the lives of countless people who came in contact with her. She will be terribly missed by all who knew and loved her. In lieu of flowers, donations are encouraged to the American Cancer Society, Essex County CASA or Advocates for Children of NJ (ACNJ).