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March 27, 1923 –  January 18, 2013  Private family services for Connie Oneta Griffin Slagle, 89, formerly of 1111 Elmwood Street in Gainesville, occurred Sunday, January 20 under direction of Meador-Clement-Keel funeral home, officiated by son Charles and grandson Neil. They, as well as daughters Dowleen, Tisha, daughter-in-law Paula, and various grandchildren offered eulogies. Pallbearers included grandsons Staley, Jarrod,
Ryan, Neil, grandson-in-law Mike Weatherford, great-grandson Dylan Pembroke, and great-grandson-in-law Marc Lieberman. Mrs. Slagle passed away in the early morning hours Friday, January 18, 2013, surrounded by Charles, Ryan, Neil, and granddaughter Lindsey.

Born on March 27, 1923 to Mildred ‘Lorena’ Knight Griffin and Thomas Griffin in El Dorado, Oklahoma, Connie was a precocious student, particularly in poetry and algebra. Having grown up with little contact with her father, her grandparents Thomas Jefferson Davis Knight and Annie Letitia Knight

helped raise her and her older sister Chloe Griffin (Nolan), until Mr. Knight’s death from lymphoma in 1938. She grew close to cousins Aubrey Crelia and Ruth Evelyn Liddell during her childhood. From age 15 onward, Connie shared a distant relationship with her father and his family who lived in Seattle until his death in 1973.

After graduating from high school in 1941, she met used car salesman Dow Ernest Slagle while she waited tables and attended night school in Denison, commuting from Thackerville each day. After consulting a psychic for relationship advice, Connie married Dow on July 17, 1942. During the

remaining war years, Dow served as quartermaster at Camp Howze, while Connie worked in the quartermaster laundry office. In 1945, Dow worked at an airplane factory in Philadelphia as they welcomed their first child, Ronald Anthony ‘Tony’. Tony, having been brain damaged at birth, motivated Dow and Connie to help organize the Cooke County Association for Retarded Citizens. The

Slagles returned to Texas in 1946, Dow working at General Dynamics and later American Manufacturing as purchasing agent. That year, they welcomed their second child, Charles Patrick, and in 1948, they welcomed their first daughter, Dowleen. Connie remained a home maker until 1954 after the birth of their youngest child, Letitia ‘Tisha’ Anne, the same year Connie’s beloved grandmother passed away. As a side job, she started a small business selling donuts and pastries, sending dressed up Charles and Dowleen throughout neighborhoods as reluctant saleskids.

When Dow became purchasing agent at National Supply in 1957, the Slagles moved to Gainesville, where Connie remained for 45 years. Through the First Assembly Church, they met lifetime friends Henry and Elizabeth ‘Lizzie’ Beck; Connie’s enduring friendship to Lizzie led her to nursing care work, initially as a sitter for the elderly and disabled. Life imitating art, Connie and Lizzie often would iron clothes and perform housework in their high heels, then drive to Dallas for shopping sprees, often to the dismay of Dow.

Dowleen, Charles, and Tisha married in 1966, 1968, and 1973, respectively, and once Dow retired in 1975, Connie converted much of the spare room in their house at 1111 Elmwood into a residential nursing center for the elderly, at one time boasting six residents and six employees. Through her work, she met some of her dearest longtime friends such as Fred W. Plaag, Jr. in 1984 and Katherine Walker in 1990. She also developed enormous strength in turning elderly patients, defeating her oldest grandson Staley at arm-wrestling consistently until he was 21 years old.

Connie’s mother passed away in 1983, and both Connie’s sister Chloe and Dow passed away in 1985, leaving her to her nursing care work and grandmotherly duties. She continued to care for the elderly in her home until her retirement in 1994. Known affectionately as ?Mimi? to her grandchildren, she hosted many of them through the years, notably her youngest grandchildren Neil and Lindsey. Neil lived with her from 1998 to 2000, at which point he moved to Bedford for college; he returned almost every weekend and during the summers, relying on his best friend Robin Fitts, much like another grandson to her, to check on her. Incidentally, Robin’s father Kenneth was a coworker and close friend of Dow’s at National Supply. By 2002, due to frail health, she no longer could live on her own, and thus moved in with Neil in Hurst near her son Charles; in 2004, she moved to Denton to be near Tisha and Lindsey; in early 2011, she returned to the midcities to be near Charles.

She was a voracious reader, a fantastic cook, a lover of poetry and old cinema, a close follower of the L.A. Lakers, a fan of soap operas All My Children and The Young and the Restless, a domino and board game enthusiast, and had a fond affection for 1930s and 1940s music, all of which she shared with those closest to her. Her love of music inspired Charles, Tisha, Neil, and Ryan to learn piano. Swollen with pride that her grandson Jarrod played high school basketball, she often embarrassed him with hugs and kisses in front of his amused teammates. A servant at heart, she ensured that any visiting family remained well-fed, capping the visit with a sizable slice of pink lemonade or chocolate pie.

She is survived by her son Ronald ‘Tony’ Slagle of Denton; son and daughter-in-law Charles and Paula Slagle of Euless; daughter and son-in-law Dow and Allan Molsbee of Lake Forest, Illinois; daughter, Dr. Tisha Slagle of Denton; grandchildren Staley Molsbee of Houston, TX; Brooke Molsbee Weatherford of Denton; Bryan Slagle of Tucson; Dr. Jarrod Knudson of Pearland, Texas; Ryan

Knudson of Denton; Justin Molsbee of Chicago; Neil Slagle of Atlanta; and Lindsey Collings of Denton; nine great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandson; and best friend of 56 years, Lizzie Beck of Gainesville. Her beloved cousin Aubrey Crelia Langston passed away January 19, 2013 at age 99, nearly 24 hours after Connie herself passed. In lieu of flowers, interested parties can donate to the Alzheimer’s Association.