Susan Clinard Slate, known by many as the Clerk and Treasurer of the Town of Stuart, passed away Saturday, April 12.
Slate, 67, was a devoted mother, grandmother and wife who was known for her kindness, generosity and love.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Pete Slate, and is survived by two children, Jessica Gregory (Edward) and James Slate (Erin), and her four grandchildren: Arya and Slate Gregory and Wyatt and Wade Slate.
Town Manager Bryce Simmons said Slate dedicated more than four decades of exceptional service to the people of Stuart as clerk and treasurer.
“She had this incredible ability to connect everything and everyone – she really was the glue for this community. That commitment was matched only by the deep love she had for her own family, a warmth she brought to her work every day,” Simmons said.
Councilmember Dave Hoback said he was shocked and deeply saddened to learn of Slate’s sudden passing and extended prayers and heartfelt condolences to her family.
“I first met Susan 40 years ago when I began working for Patrick County government. I interacted with her countless times over the years wearing one of her many hats with the town and consistently found her to be kind, helpful and pleasant,” he said.
As a dedicated and faithful public servant, Hoback said Slate held an institutional knowledge of the administrative operations of Stuart’s government, which will be impossible to immediately replace.
“Her passing leaves a deep void and unquestionably she will be sadly missed by her Town of Stuart coworkers and the members of council. Finally, I pray our Lord provides her family strength and comfort during their time of great loss and grief,” Hoback said.
Former Stuart Mayor Ray Weiland said Slate was someone he considered to be a good friend.
“She knew everything that has been happening in the town for the last 40-something odd years when she was working there. She was a great person to have around because she just remembered everything,” he said.
Anytime he needed information about how things operated or had questions, Weiland said Slate could always answer them. If she couldn’t, she knew where to go to find the answers.
“She was such a huge help to me and just a great person to have around. She was just good to talk to and I felt like she was a good friend,” he said.
Weiland said he will remember Slate consistently smiling and laughing while working, and believes she embodied the saying, “If you enjoy what you do, you never work a day in your life.”
“She just always had a smile on her face and seemed to be enjoying what she did every single day. That’s a blessing for anyone to be able to work where they have an enjoyable time,” he said.
Weiland hopes the town can recover from her loss but believes many do not realize the extent of what Slate did on a day-to-day basis.
“We’ll have to recover obviously, but it’s going to take a lot to overcome that loss of knowledge and her ability. It’s going to take a while to figure all that out and get everything running the way it ought to run again,” Weiland said.
Every time he walks through the Town Office’s door, Weiland said he still expects to see Slate’s face.
“I will greatly miss that,” he said.
Former Stuart Town Manager Terry Tilley said he worked with Slate for nearly 40 years.
“We were just kind of together and I loved her to death, she was really a sweetheart,” he said.
Tilley believes Slate did an excellent job for the town and took care of everything.
“She kept me straight a lot. She was just a person who was punctual, and she worked at her job really hard — that’s what I admired a whole lot about her,” he said.
Tilley added that Slate was known for her love of her children and grandchildren.
In addition to knowing her through his time on the town council, former council member Dean Goad said Slate was also his neighbor for many years.
“She was a very intelligent girl. She did a wonderful job keeping the water system and all the payments and did them for the county for a while with the PSA (Public Service Authority),” Goad said. “Her knowledge and experience will be hard to replace. She’s going to be hard to replace too, I’ll tell you that.”
Goad said he will remember Slate’s sympathy for those who had trouble paying their water bills.
“Some of them when they would get behind” on paying their water bills “she would work with them real good to keep from turning the water off. She was really sympathetic with the people who live in town, and she always gave them leeway so that their water never had to cut them off. She had empathy for people who couldn’t pay them right on time sometimes,” he said.
