Obituary of Margaret Parker Slack

Margaret Parker Slack (nee Beitel), age 89, a 13-year resident of the Rydal Park Retirement Community died on August 10, 2014. Born in Philadelphia, she was the daughter of the late Lester Beitel and the late Marion Durney Beitel. She was and raised in the Germantown and Chestnut Hill sections of Philadelphia. Margaret graduated from the Temple School of Nursing in 1947. Later in that same year, she married Frederick W. Slack, Jr. at Our Lady of Consolation Church in Chestnut Hill. Mr. Slack served in the Navy in both WWII and the Korean War before retiring with the rank of Captain. Mr. Slack died in 1985. During the Korean War, Mrs. Slack and her two children lived in Japan for two years. Margaret was an inveterate volunteer, an active member of the Abington Hospital Women's Board for 30-years. She served as Chairman of the Abington Hospital's Gala Soiree in 1970 and as Chairman of the June Fete in 1975. She was on the staff of the Red Cross from 1970-1975 and served on the board of the International House and chaired their Gala in 1992. She was a former member and president of the Random Garden Club of Chestnut Hill. She had many entries and two blue ribbons in the Philadelphia Flower Show. She loved flower arranging, needlepoint, and reading. She started the Rydal Park book club and chaired it for 6 years. She is survived by her children and their spouses: Frederick W. III and Mary Louise Slack and Jacqueline and Dennis Peacock; by three grandchildren, three sisters and a brother. Memorial Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 AM on Thursday, August 14, 2014, Immaculate Conception Church, 602 West Avenue, Jenkintown, PA., where friends will be received from 9:30 AM until 10:20 AM. Interment in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to Abington Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, 1200 Old York Road, Abington, PA 19001 or to Joseph C. Scott Medical Center at Rydal Park, 1515 The Fairway, Jenkintown, PA 19046.