Margaret “Peggy” Sloat
Peggy Sloat passed peacefully on Thursday, May 28th, 2020, hours after marking her 89th birthday.
Peggy was born May 27, 1931, eldest daughter of Edward and Marcella (Mertz) O’Connor in Donahue, Ia. She attended Immaculate Conception High School and Marycrest College, where she majored in education and also met the love of her life and future husband, Donald Sloat, with whom she enjoyed almost 64 years of a very happy and loving marriage before his death in 2016.
Peggy enjoyed and found great purpose in her career in education, spanning more than three decades, during which she touched countless young lives. Her career began in a one-room school in Walnut Grove, Ia. After a 12-year hiatus to raise her six children, she returned to school, earning her master’s degree from the University of Iowa and resumed her teaching role in the Davenport Community school system, where she ended her career at Buchannan Elementary School. Upon retirement, Peggy volunteered her teaching talents to educating the local Vietnamese community in English as a second language. She was also active in her church community at St Joseph’s and St Mary’s Catholic parishes, devoting countless hours to running the parishes’ clothing center and supporting Marquette Academy.
Mom used her summers “off” to teach summer school and spend time with her growing brood of six, which spanned fifteen years in age. Summers meant trips in the family camper around the United States, supporting Don’s summer house painting business, house projects and numerous trips to Blessings’ Gardens, resulting in sumptuous family dinners built around fresh produce, namely beefsteak tomatoes, Iowa sweet corn and watermelon. Lest we not forget the gallons of her signature sweet tea! Mom was a creative and prolific cook, eventually earning a vast reputation for her “enchies,” an Irish/American twist on the popular Mexican enchilada. Think potatoes and peas.
Mom was a vivacious and loving person who knew no strangers. She was a stalwart defender of the downtrodden—a quiet samaritan who was constantly in the background serving the needy and offering a healthy handout and hand up.
Aside from teaching, her passion was her family to which she was unfailingly devoted. Family first. No matter how long or trying her day, a full course family meal was on the daily docket, no questions or excuses accepted. She also taught her daughters to sew and cook, largely lost skills that live on to the next generation.
Survivors include her sisters Rosemary (Bill) Jacobson and Antoinette and brother Bill (Carolyn) O’Connor; brother-in-law Jerry Sloat (Eileen); six children; Jay Sloat (Debbie) , Becky Courtright (Bill), Jef Sloat (Tracy), Gary Sloat (Bonnie), Diane Kruse, Julie Heller (Guy); 16 grandchildren; Sara Sloat Cook, Jacob, Ben and Lucas Sloat, Donald, David and Benjamin Courtright, Elizabeth Boundas, Jon Parker Sloat and Tony Sloat, Mickey and Meredith Sloat, Nicholas Kruse and Bryn Kruse Bennett, Sophia and Olivia Heller; 13 great grandchildren; Jay, Helen, John and Joe Cook, Karthik and Meera Sloat, Lloyd, Charles and Thomas Boundas, Anthony and James Courtright and Will and Abby Courtright; and many beloved nieces, nephews and in laws.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Alzheimer’s Association, at P.O. box 96011, Washington, D.C., 20090-6011, online at alz.org, or by calling 1-800-272-3900.
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