Margaret Anne Sloan
Margaret Anne Sloan, 84, passed away due to dementia on Nov. 16, 2024, in Tucson. She was born on March 2, 1940, to Adele (Hood) and Mabry Collins in Houston, Texas. Throughout her life, she embraced numerous roles that highlighted her diverse talents and kind-hearted spirit. Margaret Sloan’s life was well-lived, filled with love, laughter, and the pursuit of knowledge. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her.
Margaret is preceded in death by her parents, Mabry Collins and Adele Herring; stepfather, Barney Herring; husband, Bob; son, Sean; siblings, Arlene, Loretta and Louis; and grandsons, Damon and Michael.
She is survived by her daughters, Letha, Roberta and Arletta; grandchildren, Andrew, Tiffany, Braden, Jason, Erica, Morgan, Jordan and Mitchel; brother, Charles; sister-in-law, Diana Sloan; and many nieces, nephews, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, and one great-great-great-grandchild.
In 1959. while working at the USPS in Houston. Margaret met her beloved Robert Kaye, soon to become Bob Sloan, through a co-worker who was helping them with paperwork. When Margaret met Robert (Bob) in 1959 at the USPS where they worked they bonded over the fact that she had been adopted by her stepfather and he was working on being adopted by his. Love blossomed quickly, they married soon after meeting and within the space of one year their first child, Letha, was born, fairly quickly followed by Roberta and then Sean. Margaret and Bob decided to move to Alaska, where Bob had previously been stationed in the Air Force. They established their family near Palmer, where their children attended school. Their youngest child, Arletta, was born a few years later, in Alaska.
Margaret and Bob moved their children to Seward for the winter, for a few years, so that they could both attend attended the University of Alaska and Seward Community College. There, Margaret furthered her education and learned to speak German. Returning to the Palmer area full time, it was a rough life, with no running water, often no electricity and Margaret literally keeping the home fires burning in the wood stove, while Bob worked where he could until he finally got a job on the Alaska Pipeline which required him to be away from home for extended periods of time. Once her children were all in school, Margaret began working outside the home again.
Margaret is known for her intelligence, creativity and determination to get things done. When she moved to Mammoth, she took out a 30-year loan on a house, but had it paid off in six. She worked for the USPS in Houston, drove a school bus in Palmer and working at the Mammoth Public Library for a time after Margaret retired and several members of the Sloan family moved to Mammoth. Her career was as an Accounting Clerk for the State of Alaska in the Department of Natural Resources where she received numerous commendations and promotions.
Margaret was an avid reader and doer of puzzles, enjoyed knitting, sewing, painting, and drawing. She hunted, gardened and enjoyed nature walks, often with children and grandchildren. She believed it was important for children to be surrounded by music, good books, and art. Though agnostic, Margaret respected the beliefs of others and encouraged her children to explore the possibilities, without prejudice.
Plans for a memorial will be announced at a later time. Margaret will be cremated, with her ashes to be returned to Alaska, where she spent most of her life with her family. The family is being helped by ‘After’.