ANNE LEIDEL SLESNICK's Obituary
ANNE THOMPSON FARRIOR LEIDEL SLESNICK
9/02/1922 – 2/23/2024
• Born in Birmingham, Alabama – (parents: James and Ruth Farrior) – the middle sibling of a three-child family --- two brothers: Jimmy and Joe. Granddaughter of Annie Magruder and Joseph Thompson.
• Raised during the Great Depression in a small rural town, Letohatchee, Alabama, in extremely challenging economic circumstances.
• During the early stages of World War II, while working as a civilian employee at Maxwell Field in Montgomery, she met a young "Yankee" Airman, Sgt. Don Slesnick of Buffalo, N.Y. {She came from a very poor family- and he was driving a 1939 bright yellow Buick convertible.
• Anne and Don were married and for the first year traveled the Army Air Corps "Southern circuit" (Monroe, La.; San Antonio, Tx.; Harlingen, Tx.). In Harlingen, she gave birth to a son, Don II. When Don, Sr. was shipped to Italy for the duration of the war, she took her son back to Montgomery to await his return.
• When Don returned from the war in Europe, the family moved to his home in Buffalo, N.Y. where a couple of years later Anne gave birth to their daughter, Luanne.
• In 1953 the family relocated to Ft. Myers and later to Miami (Grapeland Heights) - and immediately adopted South Florida as their "beloved" home with a major part of their community activity centered around Holy Comforter Episcopal Church (in today's "Little Havana").
• In the 1960's they moved to "Five Points" (S.W. 12th Ave. and Coral Way) and by the 1970's had settled in Coral Gables where they became active members of the Country Club of Coral Gables.
• Anne was an avid golfer and helped found the women's golf groups at Granada and at Biltmore. In which she stayed active until her 95th year.
• Anne was a devoted Bridge card game participant at the Country Club.
• She and Don were married 46 years until his death in 1988.
• After Don's death, Anne spent a short but productive career in the mortgage and banking business.
• Later she married and spent a decade of golf and travel with Dave Leidel until his death.
• After relocating from Miami to Coral Gables she became a proud parishioner at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church. She was active in the community belonging to such organizations as the Daughters of the American Revolution ("DAR"), the Junior Orange Bowl Committee, and the U. of Miami Women’s Cancer Association.
• She was a “Founding Contributor” to the Coral Gables Museum and the Coral Gables Art Cinema.
• The Coral Gables Commission declared September 2nd, 2022, as “Anne Slesnick Leidel Day” in honor of her 100th birthday.
• On August 16th, 2023, The Coral Gables Historic Preservation Board named her house at 541 Giralda Ave. as a “Local Historic Landmark”.
• She was the proud Mother of the Mayor of Coral Gables (Don), and the Mother-in-law of a Coral Gables Commissioner (Jeannett).
• She was extremely proud that her daughter (Luanne) and Son-in-law (Bob Recicar) [who reside in Hawthorne, Florida] raised such a large and devoted Christian family.
• Her granddaughter Kathleen Kauffman contributes the following eulogy: “she loved traveling the world with my grandfather and their best friends; she was very artistic - liked to paint watercolors and create craft projects, she had a wonderful Southern drawl that was so soothing and classy; she made the best Angel food cakes; for many years, she managed to cook the entire Easter and Christmas dinners for the whole extended family; she was super devoted to her church; she knew every word to every song from the 1940’s; she had many golf hats…..”
• Family: 2 children: 8 grandchildren, 28 great grandchildren and 4 great, great grandchildren.
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article285879616.html#storylink=cpy
Anne Slesnick, mother of former Coral Gables mayor and community matriarch, dies at 101
What life lesson and impact have you on a family and community when you live a good life to the age of 101 and pass peacefully surrounded by those whom you have helped mold?
For Anne Leidel Slesnick — mother to attorney and former Coral Gables Mayor Donald Slesnick, mother-in-law to his late wife, Gables Commissioner Jeannett Slesnick, and Southern matriarch to the greater Coral Gables community, the lesson is one of love and honor.
Slesnick died Friday at the Gables home she shared with her son’s family and with a glorious view of her beloved golf course just outside the home’s front window. She was 101.
A MOTHER’S LESSON “My mother instilled in me an absolute respect for God and the church and a dedication to a higher power, if you will, and that kind of seeps down into the fact that you appreciate honesty and integrity,” Don Slesnick said. “And the fact you have values in life.”
Born Anne Thompson Farrior on Sept. 2, 1922, in a small, rural farm town in Birmingham, Alabama, and raised during the Great Depression with her two brothers by a single mother, young Southern Anne grew up in “absolute poverty,” her son said. Her core, however, was solid. Rich in values. Rich in respect. “Warm and embracing,” her son said.
“She had nothing, literally nothing,” Don Slesnick said. “They lived off the land, just about, and she came from there to make herself into what she was and she was a contributor to the community and a person who really outreached to other people. I mean, you can tell that she liked people and liked being around people. She took pride in other people’s accomplishments. She loved trying to get things started.”
EARLY LIFE POST-WAR
During World War II, while working as a civilian at Maxwell Army Air Corp Field in Montgomery, Farrior fell in love with a young staff sergeant named Donald David Slesnick. After his return from Italy, where he had been stationed during the war, the married Slesnicks moved to his hometown of Buffalo, New York, where they began to raise their two children, Don II and Luanne.
In 1953, the family moved to the Miami area, and through several moves made their way to Coral Gables by the 1970s. Slesnick did not have a traditional outside job until the age of 70 after her insurance executive husband of 46 years died at 71 in January 1988. She went to work as a mortgage banker, found success in that endeavor, her son said, and devoted her life to community and family. “She was that kind of person — she was going to get it done no matter what it took,” he said.
Anne Slesnick later married Dave Leidel, with whom she spent 10 years traveling, golfing and playing her beloved bridge. He, too, predeceased her.
“I told my mother as she was lying in bed over these last couple of years, and I would continue to tell her, that the person I became was because of her and my dad,” son Don Slesnick said. “They demanded that I respect other people. That I respect the United States of America. That I respect authority. I was kind of a traditional 1950s kid. I grew up, very much, not a rebel. Not someone who took on the establishment. I believed in the establishment. I obviously had my own thoughts. I’ve tried to follow what I think is right or wrong, but it was because of them.”
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
His mom was an active parishioner at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in the Gables, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Junior Orange Bowl Committee, and the University of Miami Cancer Association. Along with her best friend, the late financial executive Catherine “Kay” Fahringer, the pair founded both the Granada and Biltmore Women’s Golf Associations. The Coral Gables Commission declared Sept. 2, 2022, as “Anne Slesnick Leidel Day” in honor of her 100th birthday.
“She loved traveling the world with my grandfather and their best friends,” said granddaughter Kathleen Slesnick Kauffman in her eulogy to her grandmother. ”She was very artistic. She liked to paint watercolors and create craft projects. She had a wonderful Southern drawl that was so soothing and classy. She made the best angel food cakes. For many years, she managed to cook the entire Easter and Christmas dinners for the whole extended family. She was super devoted to her church. She knew every word to every song from the 1940s. She had many golf hats.”
On a Facebook tribute posted Friday afternoon by her granddaughter, and featuring a tender image of mother and son, Slesnick Kauffman wrote: “How does one say goodbye to their mom? With a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, a kiss on the forehead, and a promise that we will carry on the good family name in her honor.”
SURVIVORS, SERVICES
Slesnick’s survivors include her son and daughter Donald Slesnick and Luanne Recicar. Also, eight grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren and four great-, great-grandchildren. A celebration of life will be scheduled at a later date.
Anne, the Mythbuster
Joan Chittister in The Gifi of Years, Growing Older Gracefully writes that, ooAge comes
only to the truly blessed."r My friend Anne might agree. On any given Monday and Friday
you'll see her pushing her golf cart on our nine-hole municipal golf course as a member of twolong-
standing women's groups. You'll know it is her for sure by her flowered hat and
determined walk. When you look inside her family bible, you'll see she is running out of space
as she records her still-growing family that include two children, seven grandchildren and24
great-grandchildren. You can also find her working actively in church ministries for the
homeless, and for disadvantaged women. At 88, Anne is a busy woman, who says that there is
"no need to worry ahead of time" about the eventual losses of autonomy and self-sufficiency.
She'd much "rather enjoy herself and do what I can for others while I can." To spend a few
hours interviewing her is to fall in love with her beautiful Alabama accent, her compelling life
storyo and her surprisingly modern outlook on life. Her sense of adventure and love of travel
makes me think of Amelia Earhart, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, and had Anne been born later, I
could fancy her a crew member on the Space Shuttle. Life hasn't always been perfect or easy,
but like a Navajo rug, the imperfection that is intentionally woven into the pattern makes it
special, and according to Franciscan priest and author, Richard Rohr, "Perfection is not the
elimination of imperfection, as we think. Divine perfection is, in facto the ability to recognize,
t (Chinister, 2008)
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forgive, and include imperfection!-just as God does with all of us. Only in this way can we find
the beautiful and hidden wholeness of God underneath the passing human show."2
Chittister's book of meditative essays broaches subjects like regret, religion, freedom,
spirituality and many more that are almost custom-made to Anne's story. As I begin to tell her it
more in depth, it is essential to include many of these themes or subjects, as they share the same
soft quality of her life. Statistics and studies are not uniquely indicative of the simple richness I
found one Sunday aftemoon in her living room; a deeply gracious and honest person who looks
to a future that is still unfolding. There are more golf balls to hit, investments to make and lots
of family to eqjoy. And now, meet Anne!
Anne was bom inl922 into a genteel aristocratic family of Birmingham, Alabama. By
way of background, Birmingham at that time was a railroad hub and notable for iron ore, coal
and limestone deposits, key ingredients for manufacturing steel. In the Jim Crow South of the
time, schools were segregated by race, and o'separate but equal facilities" prevailed. Early
affluence did not buffer Anne and her family from hitting on some very hard times. Her mom
and dad married young. Her father's lifelong weakness for alcohol made his Birmingham family
uncomfortable, so they were asked the family to move south to Letohatchie, a desolate country
town and into a o'ramshackle house." Life was uncertain, nomadic and filled with deprivation.
They moved from house to house and her father, from job-to-job, unable to keep each one for
only short periods of time. "We had a garden and people gave us food, but \rye \¡rere destitute."
And then the Depression hit, and it all got much worse. Despite all of this, she graduated
valedictorian of her high school class. Her mom did eventually divorce and married a man who
provided stability for the family.
2 lRohr, 2oo3-2olo)
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When I asked her if her early life has affected or colored the rest of life, she answers, ool
never tried to determine what effect Letohatchie had on my life. Guess it's just a part of the
tapestry that has formed my character and helped me to deal with adversities." Chittister writes
that "each of our separate lives...are part of one lifeline...Each of them makes us new. And each
of them has a purpose."3 In an unlikely appearance here, Nietzsche's quote, "Out of life's school
of war: What does not destroy me makes me stronger,"4 is oddly apropos for Anne.
Religion has woven a steady thread of stability throughout her life. Caught up in the
fervor of a Methodist Church revival in Letohatchie, she was baptized as a young girl by a
Baptist preacher in a muddy river. The traveling preacher came to town once a month and
families went wherover he went, whether it was the Episcopal, Methodist or Baptist church.
When she maried Don, the father of her two children, she joined the Episcopal Chtrch and has
been there ever since. 'oI accepted religion as part of my life. Sunday you got to church, and I
taught that to my children." Chittister offers that religion'o...has various functions at various
stages of life...a direction, a map,"s but that it changes as one approaches the later years. What
was once ritual and creeds might begin to develop beyond the rote, into what gives meaning and
purpose through spiritual acts and reflections. For Anne, her early years, religion brought her
comfort and joy, and when she married, she passed on her love of God to her family. In our
conversation, she talks about involvement in church programs in the community. 'When I ask if
her church home provides a ministry for seniors, she is quick to point out that young and old
work together side by side. "standing in line for two hours is hard (feeding the homeless), but
you feel you are doing something to help others.'o Anne is happy and proud to work with her
3 (chinister,2008)
a
çNietzsche, 1994-2OtO)
5 (chittister, 2008)
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church, Yomg, middle and older parishioners in service to the community. She gives generously
in what Harold Koenig discusses in Purpose Power in Retiremeflt,o'...a friendly and enthusiastic
manner, communicating non-verbally that nothing is owed in retum.,'6
Anne married her first husband Don at the age of twenty when he was in Air Force.
She'd gotten a job at Maxwell Field in Alabama, and though they'd only known each other for a
short time, they got married. They lived on several bases before he went off to serve in Italy in
World War II. Upon his retum they settled in his hometown of Buffalo where they lived
happily, until they ended up in Miami. In her forties, she decided it was time to get back to
work. She started in a carpet business doing bids, eventually moved into the tough work of
collections, often having to go to court to collect the debt. She later answered an ad to run a
mortgage escrow department, without having the experience, only the fact that she understood
mortgages and taxes. "The lady who interviewed me took my word that I knew about escrow
and hired me." Anne subsequently headed an escro\¡/ department at a local bank, later becoming
a loan officer. She retired at 62 to spend more time with Don, who died of cancer just three
years later. When I comment on her fearlessness in applying for a job with no experience, and
then excelling at them, she chuckles and agrees. The Grcek Menander poet said, "Even God
lends a hand to honest boldness."T That is certainly true in Anne's life.
V/idowed twice, she is content with her life right now and had been focused on working
with her computer, making investments that have made her financially secure. Her powers of
observation, her keen interest in stocks and the markets have borne good fruit for Anne. "My
computer time is interesting and purposeful since I have been able to do many good things with
the money I make and I am sure my two children are content knowing that they do not need to be
l(Harota G. Koenig, 2003)
' (Menander, 2001-2011)
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concemed about my finances." She has taught her daughter her investment strategies which
have helped her family get through rough financial times during the extended economic
downtum.
From the Glenn Turner synopsis of his unpublished paper entitled Aging: A Spiritual
Journey he states, "All growth results from living through crisis [challenges]. The ways we
respond to these crises will lead to joy and fulfillment or bittemess and misery." Vy'hen I ask
Anne about how she dealt with and handled painful losses in her life, she shares that she lost two
husbands and her mother in a ten year span, which was very hard, and they each dealt with death
differently. Don died of liver cancer after 45 years of marriage. o'He was good-natured about
everything, never worried about it, and joked he was going to die. He even had a dream that he
threw aparty to say goodbye and that he just kept climbing a stairway until he disappeared.'o
Her second husband Dave retreated and nothing made him happy. She tried to read from the
Bible but to no avail and he stopped tending to his beloved garden. "My mother was an angel
(age 93) and died here because she didn't want to go to the hospital." As she looks back on these
losses she shares that she has some regrets and maybe,
...should have found away to spend more time making the three
persons who died on my watch more content. I should have spent
more time listening to my Mother tell me all of her little stories
that I knew...over and over. I could not always find the time. I
was torn between spending time with my fairly new husband...I
don't know if I shared their suffering enough or if I seemed
impatient. At least I managed to take care of them at home as each
of them was determined not to be sent to a hospital or a nursing
home.
Anne sent me this response via email, but I could almost hear the sadness in her voice. Yet
Chittister observes that regrets, "...remind us of the people we loved, the sense of direction that
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drove us on, the commitment we made and kept."8 As to her grief, she says she handled that
privately and remembered that each of them was free now. 'oMom was looking forward to
heaven and seeing her family. Heaven was a reward for her." In his dream of the party and the
stairway, Don expressed that he was going to walk right on to heaven. Death was just the next
step in life. She did miss them all, but never felt despondent and was intent on not burdening her
friends with her grief.
Having gone through these painful experiences, I ask Anne what she hopes life after
death looks like. She quotes I Corinthians 12:13, o'For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then
face to face; now I know in part, but then I \¡¡i11 know fully just as I have been fully known."e
We are finite beings Anne states, and our minds are incapable of taking on something as big as
heaven. "It is like trying to describe a rainbow to a blind person who has never seen color. Our
minds can't imagine what might make us happy for eternity." This last interchange about an
afterlife goes beyond creeds and rituals mentioned previously, and to the core of her spirituality
that "...involves a deeper appreciation of oneself as God's child, created with a special purpose
and irreplaceable in God's overall plan."lo Anne is a woman at peace with her life, though she
does admit that she is sorry that it might be over soon.
Since I've always accepted the fact that God created me for His
pu{poses, I feel He will not let me stray too far [from] what He
wants me to do without stopping me from being at peace with my
life. Hopefully, I'm spreading some sunshine in my path and
setting a good example for all those little people that have come
into the world because of me.
8 (Chinister, 2008)
e lCeV Bible, I Corinthians 13:12,2006)
ro (Harold G. Koenig,2003)
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As to "dying in peace" th" jury is still out and, "I will wait until that time comes to know how
well I will handle that." Her desire is that she could die quickly without years of pain and not
make it too difficult for her family. No surprises here.
I have played golf with Anne and know that she keeps a steady, brisk pace. Her drives
are not as long as they used to be, but they go straight and forward. And be careful to count your
strokes, she is meticulous about keeping an accurate score card. What she like about golf is that
it values honesty, which is lacking in other areas of life. She is aware that she is aging, and is
coming to grips with it, but works to keep it at bay as best she can. Exercises and vitamins are a
daily routine, and she prides on keeping herself in good shape. Meals are planned and she makes
sure to eat three "squares" a day. In a less serious, more light-hearted question, Anne confesses
that she loves meat, and that chocolate cake is her favorite dessert!
Anne has traveled extensively and has spanned many longitudes and latitudes. She has
ridden a camel in Egypt, visited the Holy Land, gone on a Mediterranean cruise and seen the
Greek islands. Of all of her trips, China was probably the most exotic, and the one that
fascinated her the most. ooMy nature has always craved excitement and somehow I have always
found plenty of that!" She traveled with her husband Don, and enjoyed doing the Eurail train trip
through various countries. With husband David, the adventures were focused on a mutual
passion, golf. I asked her of the many courses she has played, what was her favorite, and she
answers that she loves them all. She does admit being partial to our own Granada nine-hole
course. It is there that I first played with her, and her encouragement spurred me to take more
lessons and hone my skills. Golf like life has many lessons to teach and offers the player many
lessons in humility and teamwork.
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As she looks over her rich life, she wonders if maybe she might have married too yoüg,
but she quickly points out that, ool wouldn't change my children for any other, so I can't regret
that." From her long-suffering mother she admires her sunny disposition through it all. It is no
doubt that Anne was also inspired by her mother's own faith, a gift she pays forward to her
family. "She (mother) was such a wonderful Christian and knew that God would bring her
through it all, and apparently she did not feel.that our not having the comforts of the world hurt
us in the end." Mother was indeed right; Anne's older brother became one of Von Braunos top
scientists and did the guidance on the first rocket that went up, and later worked for Lockheed.
Her younger brother owned his own airplane by the time he was thirty and was successful in
business and raised a wonderful family. George Vaillant inAging Well suggests that there are
seven protective factors that predict healtþ aging. Mature defenses is one of them and,'orefers
to our capacity to turn lemons into lemonade and not to turn molehills into mountains."ll For
Anne and her brother's, the early experiences with deprivation, coupled with a loving mother,
sure made all the difference in the world. And in looking over the remaining six predictive
factors, she gets an A+.
As I draw this journey to a close, I am reminded of the geometric proofs that gave me fits
in high school that now find an odd relevance in this assignment. Proofs lead us step-by-step
from an initial premise to a final conclusion using hypotheses, and what you end up with may not
match the assumptions you made initially. My investigation started with a series of questions to
õì
learn more about life from the point of vievXa senior looking back on life, reflecting on where
she's been, and how she feels about where her life is now. Anne worked through the hypotheses
with me (the questions) thoughtfully, and with graciousness. What I ended up "proving" is that
tt (vaillarú,2002)
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Anne is a senior whose body, mind and soul are beautifully in sync with each other, integrated
and in wonderful working order. My original hypotheses based on my knowing her for about l0
years was pretty accurate, but this "proving" exercise, verified and strengthened my original
assumptions.
Anne is a healthy and vibrant 88 year-old senior. She exercises, takes vitamins and plans
her meals. She learned to use the computer to bring her financial security. With or without her
tech companiono she has always tried new things and excelled. Anne had a wonderful and loving
mom, and a father that had an unfortunate addiction. Their divorce and the lean times that
surrounded her as ayoung girl did not hamper her ability to make a good and happy life. The
depth and breadth of her offspring is testament that even when your parents aren't perfect, life
can still be good. Anne is sharp, and watches the world with great interest. She's engaged in the
broader world at a level that is comfortable for her, but prefers to focus her efforts to do good in
her immediate community. Anne gives generously of her time and financial resources to her
church and to her family, and it gives her great joy. The work at the computer is not as much for
her, but for those that she's brought into this world. Anne is a myth buster! According to John
Rowe in Successful Aging,there are six myths on aging that "include a confusing blend of truth
and fancy."tz ¡1d she busts all of them wide open.
Melissa Kelley inGrief: Contemporary Theory and the Practice of Ministry, writes that
"there are various ways to understand and articulate meaning in our lives, but an essential one is
the narrative or story. Human life is fundamentally grounded in story."l3 Sitting with Anne on
that lovely Sunday afternoon, I become aware of the overarching themes that grace her life, but it
has been in the writing where the neural connections are made, to hear of the memories of
l] lrann & Rowe, 1998)
" (Kelley,20l0)
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beloved family, resilience in adversity, strong and abiding faith in all kinds of 'oweather", and
about legacy. How Anne has approached her life and later years has taught me much and
poignantly reminded of a similar story in my own family. Like the Navajo rug, no life is perfect
even in the remembering, but it doesn't matter. Chittister provides a most elegant and simple
reflection that I believe echoes the story that I respectfully transcribed in Anne's home, and with
these gentle, but pointed musings reflective of a life well lived, I take my leave.
What are \üe leaving behind? We leave our attitude toward the
world. W'e are remembered for whether or not we inspired in
others a love for life and openness to all who have lived it with us.
We will be remembered for our smiles and for our frowns, for our
laughter and for our complaints, for our kindness and for our
selfishness. 'We leave behind for the world to see the value system
that marks everythi4g we do...We leave behind the memory of the
way \ile treated strangers, how we loved the individuals closest to
us, how we cared for those who loved us... We leave behind, in
our very positions on death and life, on purpose and meaning, a
model of relationship with God...Our legacy is more than our
fiscal worth. Our legacy does not die the day we die. We have
added to it every moment of our lives.la
Amen to that!
What’s your fondest memory of ANNE?
What’s a lesson you learned from ANNE?
Share a story where ANNE's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with ANNE you’ll never forget.
How did ANNE make you smile?