Ranger Exes Memorial - The Faculty

Claudia Slaughter CLAUDIA WILLIAMS SLAUGHTER, 94, died Nov. 3, 1998 in Santa Monica, CA at the Sunrise Care Nursing Home. Claudia was born in San Saba, TX, to the late Abraham & Eliza Durham Williams, Feb. 8, 1904. She was the tenth child of twelve children all of whom worked on her father’s Texas farms. Her parents eventually settled on a farm in Terrell, Texas where Claudia completed her public school education graduating from Burnett High School in 1922. She graduated from Paul Quinn College, Waco, TX, in 1926 with a BA in English. She chose English over Math thinking it would be more practical for acquiring a teaching position. Claudia’s first teaching job was one that would move her away from the comfort of family and friends in Terrell, TX to an unknown town called Ranger, TX. This was a big move for her. Ranger was looking for its first teacher for a new grammar school for Black children. There was no family or friends waiting for Claudia in Ranger. This young farmer’s daughter now found herself in a trailblazer role. In time she made many friends as Ranger became her new home. She lived with the Morris family and eventually with the Burnett family where she made lasting friendships. In 1933 Claudia Williams married her college sweetheart, M.B. Slaughter who had worked his way through three colleges as an athlete finally graduating from Fisk University. With a Teachers Temporary Certificate M.B. Slaughter taught in Claudia’s place when she gave birth to their son in 1936. The school was named Slaughter Ward Grammar School in honor of Claudia Slaughter’s years of dedicated service. During her tenure in Ranger she taught two generations. She spent school months in Ranger and summers in Dallas with her husband. She finally left Ranger for the last time in the spring of 1944. Her teaching career continued in Dallas, at C.F. Carr & Degalian Elementary Schools, for a total of more than forty years of service in the Texas School System. She received a Masters Degree in Education from North Texas State University after age fifty. Claudia was a devoted member of St. James A.M.E. Church in Dallas where she gave her prayers, her presence, her gifts and service. She was a member of the Business & Professional Women’s Organization, as well as many other community organizations. After she became ill, her son moved her to Los Angeles, CA to be near him, her daughter-in-law and grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, M.B. Slaughter and her four brothers and seven sisters. She is survived by: son, Theodore (Celestine) Slaughter of Los Angeles, CA; four grandchildren, Donna and Karen of Los Angeles, CA, Mark of Sacramento, CA, and Michael of Atlanta, GA; two great- grandchildren; an adopted niece, Patricia Conners of Dallas, TX; three grandchildren, Charles and Carla of Dallas, and Cedric of Tulsa, OK; four great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces and nephews and other relatives & friends.