Deborah Slack

Deborah Beaver Slack was born July 8, 1954 at Walker Air Force Base, Roswell, NM and returned to her Creator August 24, 2013. She was united in marriage to Michael Don Slack and resided on a farm near Thayer, MO which she loved.

She is survived by her husband Michael, daughter Carmen Deborah Smith, son-in-law Keith Rodell Smith, granddaughter Cheyenne Dakota Smith and grandson Laramie Laredo Smith of Gentry, AR; daughter Maria Palmer and son-in-law in spirit Kyle Love of Steamboat Springs, CO; her parents Beal and Lynn Beaver of Prairie Grove, AR; brothers Steve, Mark and David Beaver, sisters-in-law Jennifer and Karen Beaver, sister Sharon and brother-in-law Robert Hensley all of northwest AR, sister Pam and brother-in-law Naushad Aurangzeb of Alta Loma, CA; mother-in-law Mary Slack, sister-in-law Jill Slack and nephew Matthew Slack of Springfield.

Deb was a retired elementary school teacher and lifelong gardener. She was the founder of Ozarks Self Reliant Living University and taught classes in gardening and heritage studies each month in three cities. She was an organizer of the Go Green Festival in Thayer, a member of the Missouri Organic Association and a speaker at their conference every year, and a supporter of the Ozarks Property Rights Coalition. She loved her family, her country, her farm and the chance to teach others organic gardening, canning and self-reliance. She especially loved her daughters and her beautiful grandchildren. She had many friends in the Ozarks that she loved and thousands of people online in the Organic Homestead Gardening Group and others whose lives were made richer by knowledge she shared. She loved native American culture and was adopted into, and appointed Medicine Woman by the Overhill Cherokee Nation. She was a member of the Republican Central Committee of Oregon County and many politicians will testify that she often warned them to stay honest and respect the people they served. She was a frequent guest on local radio, especially America’s Voice Now, and was offered the chance to host a weekly self-reliance radio program two days before her passing. She worked long hours in her garden, loving every minute, and credited her mother with her love of gardening. She and Mike loved working together and had talked the day before she passed about how happy they were and how they planned to grow old together on their farm.

A celebration of Deb’s life will be held Saturday, August 31, 2013 at 1:00 PM at Carter Funeral Home Chapel in Thayer. Afterwards, as Deb wished, her friends and family will meet at the Thayer Senior Center to share memories over covered dishes in the old time country way. All are welcome.