Obituary of Dexter Woodard Slater

Dexter “Shorty” Slater was born on October 11, 1944 and died on October 28, 2020 at the age of 76. He was a resident of DeRidder, Louisiana. Shorty was born in DeRidder as the 5th child of Cyrus Slater and Zellie Craft Slater. He was predeceased by his wife Jane McKinzie Slater, two brothers, Felix Love Slater “Happy” and Ray Slater and one sister Barbara Montgomery. He is survived by two children, James Slater of DeRidder, Louisiana and Sandra Kaye Collins (husband Greg) of New Bern, North Carolina, and three sisters, Violet Crumpler (husband Tom) of North Carolina, Eunice Bordelon (husband Johnny), Rowena Jones of Louisiana and sister‐in‐law Patricia Roy of Nederland, Texas. He is also survived by three grandchildren, Ashley Barron, Amanda Slater, and Cody Meadows and four great grandchildren. Following the death of his mother, he was embraced and raised as the only son of Marvin and Ethel Cooley, who had previously fostered numerous children. Upon graduation from DeRidder High School, he joined the United States Marine Corps. He served in the Vietnam War and then continued to serve for 22 and a half years until his retirement as a Master Sergeant in 1986 from Cherry Point, North Carolina. Throughout his military career and different duty stations, numerous fellow Marines became family who he adopted as brothers and those bonds survive his death. Once a Marine, Always a Marine. Following his retirement he attended Coastal Carolina Community College in Jacksonville, NC and earned a degree in welding. He later became an inspector with Mays Exterminating and continued with that job until his retirement in 2007. He often said that he loved his job with Mays because he got to see children of regular customers grow up. In 2007, Dexter and Jane moved to DeRidder to care for his mother, Ethel, until she passed in 2008. He was a member of the Vietnam Veterans Association and his passions included gardening, camping and riding his motorcycle. A funeral service will be held on Sunday, November 1, 2020 at 3:00 pm at the chapel of DeRidder Funeral Home and will be officiated by Pastor Cazzy Francis. The family will receive visitors from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm prior to the service. The family would like to thank Dr. Bergen and Misty of Memorial Medical Group Heart & Vascular for their warmth, care and compassion of Dexter while he was a patient. Donations can be made to Beauregard/Vernon Memorial Chapter 1138 of the Vietnam Veterans Association in his honor.