Obituary for

Lucille Slaughter-Slaughter, July 6,1934 to August 30, 2024

Lucille was born in Jackson, MS. on July 6, 1934. She was the fifth of seven children born to the late-Ernest and Carrie Slaughter. She joined the Mt. Helm Baptist Church at an early age. She was educated at Tougaloo College and at the Catholic University in Washington, D.C.

She enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1956 and graduated from Yeoman "A" School at Bainbridge, Maryland. After graduation she was transferred to the U.S. Naval Operations Base (NOB) Norfolk, VA. She was assigned to the Naval Base Library. It was in the library that she met her future husband, Alonzo Slaughter, a Navy Photographer, when he came to the library to return a book. Although they shared the same last name (Slaughter) they were not related. They were married in Portsmouth, Virginia on June 21,1958.

Lucille received an Honorable Discharge from the Navy in 1959. She has lived in Maryland, Florida, Virginia, Washington, D.C., California and the Philippines. In the Philippines she played second baseman on the women's softball team at Sangley Point and toured the beautiful countryside on motorcycles with other military families. She did charity work at a Philippines Orphanage in Manila.

Shortly after Lucille and her husband, Alonzo ("Lonnie") returned to the U.S. he lost his life in a helicopter accident on December 26, 1964. He was on a rescue mission in a flood disaster area in Northern California. Lonnie was posthumously awarded the "Navy Marine Corps Medal for Heroism" by President Lyndon B. Johnson. This is the highest non-combat decoration awarded for heroism by the U.S. Navy.

After the accident Lucille moved to Washington. D.C. and began a career in the Federal Government. In her spare time she took courses at the Ardis School of Fashion and Design and courses in Court and Conference Reporting. In addition she did charity work at the Children's Hospital.

In 1995 she retired from the U.S. Department of State (International Joint Commission -- U.S. and Canada) after 30 years of service to the Federal Government.

She is preceded In death by her parents, Ernest Sr. and Carrie, siblings: Ernest Jr. (Ethel), Webster (Maryjean), Dorothy (Fletcher), Marie (Harold), Elijah (Jesse), Katherine (Levi) and Ernest (Hazel). Lucille leaves to cherish her memory her many nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, extended family and a host of persons whose lives she touched with her beautiful spirit and smile.