Birth date: Apr 25, 1934 Death date: Jan 19, 2025
Our Father, Larry Slay, age 90, passed peacefully in his home on January 19th 2025. This enormous loss to our family preceded another very recent loss of our Mother, Larry’s wife June Slay. Dad’s love for his family, and our Mom, Read Obituary
I first met Larry in the Ham Radio Club in my early years at Collins Radio. Larry quickly became known as the club's chief 'Negotiator.' Larry was responsible for coordinating large Ham radio equipment orders from many club members, managing the shipping lists, and negotiating with vendors to secure the best deals. These orders often ranged between 20 to 30 thousand dollars, and Larry had a knack for getting the best prices, no matter the vendor. Larry could talk anybody down in price!
Larry could walk up to somebody selling equipment at a Hamfest (flea market) and offer them pennies on the dollar. They never took it as an insult and would often accept his offer. His constant smile and positive, upbeat personality would totally disarm unsuspecting vendors.
In the early 1990s, when communication technologies like the internet and cellular phones weren't available, Larry played a key role in connecting astronomers across the globe. The Oklahoma City Astronomical Club was contacted by the Astronomical Society of New South Wales to see if they were interested in setting up a Ham radio link between Australia and the Okie-Tex Star Party. OKC contacted Clyde Heath and me. We then contacted Larry and off we went, setting up this link at Okie-Tex and then adding an Australian link to the Texas Star Party (TSP).
For MANY years, Larry was my traveling companion every spring, driving to and attending the Texas Star Party (TSP) in Ft. Davis, Texas. At TSP, Larry was our “Chief” radio operator. Many famous professional and amateur astronomers sat at the mic with Larry and discussed the latest astronomical discoveries over the Ham Radio link. These usually occurred in the middle of the night or wee hours of the morning. Imagine tuning across the shortwave Ham bands at 2 am in the morning and hearing Comet Hunter David Levy (Shoemaker-Levy 9) having a casual conversation about comet hunting with an Australian comet hunter. Numerous articles about TSP, including details of this link, were written in astronomy magazines as well as Texas Highways magazine. Larry also started a Ham radio/HF imaging link with the Australians (again, pre-internet) where we would swap astronomical photographs taken by our astronomers with images taken by the Australians. Larry also facilitated live two-way links between our TSP and OKIE-TEX astronomers (while at their telescopes) and the Australian astronomers.
Larry was truly an Engineer’s Engineer. He was everybody’s go-to guy for electronics, antennas, and anything RF.
Larry was a great friend and mentor to many, and his legacy will live on in the countless people whose lives he touched. His absence will be felt by all who knew him, especially those of us who shared in his passion for ham radio. He will be missed, but his influence and friendship will never be forgotten.
For all his Amateur Radio friends “Roger, Roger, Roger”….
Grandpa Slay was such a kind and gentle person. I’ll never forget his smile and laugh. He loved technology, and we would discuss radios and cameras together at length. When I was young he’d Photoshop our family pictures and share with us for laughs. In one he gave me a big green mohawk and another he turned our golden retriever Sugar into an alien. He referred to me as Mr. Moviemaker, and was always supportive of my passions. I’ll miss him very much.
