CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE OF JAMES H. SLATER WILL BE JUNE 24th 2023 (next year) in TORONTO.

Our beloved James Herman Slater died the evening of February 17, 2022, at his home in Toronto surrounded by family. He was 97.

Befitting his long life, James went by many names: Jim, Jimmy, Jimbo, Sweetheart, Poppy, Dad, Grampa, Super Zayde.

Born James Herman Slotnick on March 11, 1924, in New Haven, Connecticut, Jimmy was the son of Michael Slotnick, a lawyer and politician, and Mae Kugel, an elementary school teacher. When Jimmy was 13, his father died suddenly. The loss weighed heavily on him for his entire life.

An only child, he made friends easily and attracted others through a warm, engaging, curious and passionate personality and an irresistible sense of humour. He fell in love with his beloved Elaine Wechsler when he was 17 and Elaine was 16. They rarely spent a day apart and their love for each other was palpable. They were married for 78 years.

Jimmy graduated from Horace Mann High School in New York and entered Yale College in 1940, following in the footsteps of his father. He and Elaine married in 1944, the same year he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force during World War Two. He served in the Pacific Theater as the navigator of the “Spirit of Sacramento,” a B-29 bomber that he guided on 14-hour missions over Japan.

An avid consumer of the news, Jimmy started his civilian career as a journalist at the Springfield Republican in Massachusetts. A labor strike soon ensued. He refused to cross the picket line. To support his growing family, he joined Wechsler Coffee, his father-in-law’s business in New York. The company marketed regular and gourmet coffees and owned Restaurant Associates, a foodservice company that started a chain of iconic restaurants, including the Four Seasons and La Fonda del Sol. Jim would one day buy and run Wechsler, which also owned Goodhost Foods in Canada. He sold Goodhost to Nestlé in 1984 and Wechsler to Sara Lee in 1999.

Jimmy lived for many happy years on Long Island Sound, enjoying sailing with his children and traveling the world with Elaine. In 1970, Jimmy, Elaine and their youngest daughter Abigail left the United States for Canada, pushed by a deepening dissatisfaction with the Vietnam War and the slow pace of the civil rights movement.

He lived in Toronto for more than 50 years and enjoyed spending summer days at a family retreat near Guelph, Ontario. He loved reading, listening to classical music and enjoying his children and grandchildren who adored him. He was a tech enthusiast who served as the family’s de facto computer help desk.

He and Elaine lived their values. They were early supporters of the civil rights movement, sponsored refugees to Canada and gave generously to charitable causes and educational institutions, including Mount Sinai Hospital and the University Health Network.

All who knew him were fortunate. Jimmy’s sense of humour, charm and generosity endeared him to everyone he met. He was cherished by many, especially his family: Elaine; his four children, Michael, Kenneth, Lisa and Abigail, and their partners, whom he treated as his children, Kathy, Maria, Brenda, Howard and Morry; his nine grandchildren, Nathaniel, Joanna, Simon, Aaron, Eli, Alexander, Alexis, Maya and Emma; and his 11 great-grandchildren, Miles, Leo, Lara, Boaz, Josephine, Kathy, Cora, Ezra, Julia, Zvi and Alice.

His family is deeply grateful for the loving care that he received in his final years from Zoraya Farinha, as well as Cora Batham, Nora Padilla, Chariza Maceda and the palliative care team of Mount Sinai’s Temmy Latner Centre. There will be a memorial service to celebrate his life at a later date. Please send donations in lieu of flowers to Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

"His life was gentle, and the elements
So mix’d in him that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, ‘This was a man!’"

May his memory be a blessing.