Marjorie L. Sluter

Rumford – Marjorie L. (Ovoian) Sluter, 74, also of Johns Island, South Carolina, passed away on Sunday, April 2, 2023. She was the beloved wife of David A. Sluter nearly fifty-three years. Born in Whitinsville, MA, she was the daughter of the late Philip and Rose V. (Markarian) Ovoian. She was a force; a shining light; loyal friend; challenger of insincerity, pretense and platitudes; inquisitive personal questioner of whoever she met; lover of romance novels and movies; accomplished fearless artist; Nantucket basket weaver; adventurous traveler and sender of warm personal notes. Marjorie was a semi-passionate golfer and was known to conceal fireball whiskey in her golf bag to celebrate a birdie. She scored an Eagle on #2 and won the 2017 Wannamoisett Country Club Ladies Member-Member Championship. Above all else, Marge valued her family and embraced her roles as Wife, Mom, Grandma, Sister, and Daughter. Marjorie was a constant presence at all her son’s various activities. She served as a “second mother” to her children’s friends, happily feeding them when they frequently dropped by the house unannounced. Marjorie grew up in South Attleboro, Massachusetts. She graduated from Westfield State College, where she met the love of her life, Dave. Together, they founded New England Construction. Marge initiated a corporate culture where employees, clients, network partners and subcontractors became an extension of the family. Embracing the “NEC Family”remains a core value of the business today. Marge dedicated her retirement to caring for her parents and spending time with her close family and friends. Along with her husband, she is survived by three loving sons, Steven D. Sluter and his spouse, Pam, of Greenville, Ethan P. Sluter and his spouse, Tabitha, of Providence and Matthew A. Sluter and his spouse, Kimberly, of Seekonk; beloved grandchildren, Isabelle, Bethany, Gabriella, Gloria, Aram, Jack, Angelo, Luke and Charlie; a brother, Robert Ovoian and his spouse, Valerie Welch, of North Attleboro and special nieces, nephews, cousins and dear friends. Relatives and friends are welcome to attend a Funeral Liturgy on Wednesday at 11 a.m. in Sts. Vartanantz Armenian Apostolic Church, 402 Broadway, Providence. Burial in the family plot will follow at Swan Point Cemetery, Providence. Calling hours will be held on Tuesday from 4:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in WILLIAM W. TRIPP Funeral Home, 1008 Newport Ave., Pawtucket. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts to Sts. VartanantzArmenian Apostolic Church, 402 Broadway, Providence, RI 02909 would be appreciated. Arrangements are entrusted with William W. Tripp Funeral Home, Pawtucket. TRIPPFUNERALHOME.com An Extended Tribute Margie was a devoted and loving Wife, Mom, Grandma, Sister, and daughter – a gift of God to us all. She was a force; a shining light; loyal friend; challenger of insincerity, pretense and platitudes; inquisitive personal questioner of whoever she met; accomplished fierce artist; crafter of Nantucket baskets and painted decorative glassware; sender of warm personal notes, thank-you’s, birthday, holiday and Easter cards to family and friends; a semi-passionate golfer with an Eagle on hole #2 and the 2017 Ladies Member-Member Championship (Gold Paint at Wannamoisett Country Club) to her credit, and lover of romance novels and movies. The morning paper with crosswords (local paper + WSJ), sudoku and word jumble were the only way to start her day with Dave. The Saturday WSJ puzzle was her favorite because the clues were creative and clever. She loved to have Dave help her and would toss out clues to him while he read the papers. Margie and Dave met in their freshman year at Westfield State College in 1967. Upon graduation, she started her career as a mathematics teacher in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Dave was invited to matriculate elsewhere at the end of his freshman year. He was enthusiastically welcomed by the US Army in November 1968 and was awarded an all-expenses paid trip to the Republic of Vietnam in June of 1969. Margie and Dave were married on July 11, 1971, and lived in Pawtucket, RI while Dave completed his education at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. In the summer of 1973, Margie and Dave embarked on their first adventure – a cross country trip in a 1968 VW Bug with a roof rack. For eight weeks we traveled the American west camping and visiting most of the national parks and many state parks. It didn’t start well. After visiting Niagara Falls, we set up our tent at a local campground for the first time. Just after we finished, the sky opened, and it poured while we holed up in the VW. Margie was not a happy camper. The next morning, she realized that we were going to have to use public bathrooms and showers for the duration. Dave was the target of more than a few dirty looks. Taking the shorter route crossing through Canada, we approached the border and had our entire car emptied while the border agents searched for drugs. Dave’s long hair was the probable cause. After leaving Detroit where we visited Margie’s relatives, we made the decision to avoid all interstate highways and to travel on local roads. We wanted to see small-town America and experience local sights and off the beaten track events. Getting lost on a dirt road shortcut - low on gas, being held up by a cattle drive in Wyoming, going to a local rodeo in Montana, marveling at the vast empty spaces in Wyoming and Montana, amazed by the sheer beauty and diversity of Yellowstone, throwing snowballs at each other on a mountain pass in Glacier National Park, feeling insignificant standing next to the General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park, sleeping on the beach in northern California behind a redwood wind shelter and waking up to a minor earth tremor followed by the sight of elk ambling by us, watching a stunning sunset from the south rim of the Grand Canyon, camping under a crystal clear sky at Rocky Mountain Park and waking up at two AM to the incredible stillness and vastness and a canopy of a million stars. These were lifetime memories that forever changed us. Returning to school that fall, Margie continued to teach with Dave’s GI Bill benefits supplementing our income. We didn’t have extra spending money, but we loved each other. Margie’s family and a circle of friends were all we really needed. She was a dedicated and caring teacher who set high standards for her students and communicated her expectations clearly. Steven was born on September 22, 1974, and Dave graduated with a BS in Civil Engineering in December 1974. We moved to Barre, Vermont in January 1975 when Dave began working for a consulting engineering firm in Randolph. We knew no one in Vermont and it was challenging for Margie to stay home all day with a four-month-old baby. She quickly joined a morning coffee group of newcomers in search of adult conversation and fellowship and the group became her Barre family. During our time in Barre, we explored the back roads of central and northern Vermont (some were paved) experiencing the six seasons – the traditional four plus Mud and Leaf. Marge joined a food co-op and began baking her own bread. A big night out for us was cashing in our bottles and cans for enough cash to buy a six-pack of beer and large roast beef sandwich with hot peppers and mayo. Ethan was born on December 31, 1975 in Barre and we moved back to Seekonk, MA in March 1977. Marge was overjoyed to be near family again. Matt was born on October 26, 1978 nine months after the Blizzard of ’78. Dave was stranded in his office in Providence for two days and he borrowed a pair of hip boots from the company closet and walked the six miles home to Seekonk. He and Margie and he were happy to see each other. The interstate highways were blocked with abandoned cars and downtown providence didn’t open until a week after the storm. After working for a consulting engineering company in Providence, Dave founded his own company, New England Engineering, in June 1980. Margie co-founded New England Construction with Dave in 1985 and he began to transition away from consulting engineering. She wore multiple hats and successfully juggled the roles of mom, wife and daughter while managing finance, receptionist duties and any other jobs that needed to be done. In 1991, Marge and Dave decided that they wanted their children to experience some of our 1973 adventures. We planned to fly to Salt Lake City and visit the national parks of the West. Tenting was out of the question, so we rented a 26-foot Itaska RV and headed out to our first destination, Dinosaur National Park. Over the next three weeks, we traveled 3000 miles and visited most of those on our 1973 trip - eight national parks plus the Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands Devil’s tower, San Francisco, Hoover Dam and Las Vegas. When visited Dave’s sister Deb and her family in southern Oregon, her son Trevor wanted to spend time with his cousins, so we adopted him for remainder of the trip. It was a bit crowded, but we made it work. Our trusty Itasca RV was anything but. We quickly nicknamed it Shitaska – one of the boys came up with the nickname. Dave was not the most experienced (none) driver nor the most careful. He managed to scrape most of one side of the RV trying to squeeze through the gate at a parking lot in San Francisco and then bending the rear bumper for good measure. For his final act, he got off the wrong exit when we were returning the RV, took a shortcut across the median and ripped out a section of the waste plumbing. He rescued the plumbing and we returned to the rental dealer. We had paid a damage deposit of $300 which certainly didn’t cover said damage. The rental dealer had to drop us off at the airport with his truck. The trip was made in complete silence by all parties. In 2004 Steve joined the company in followed by Matt and Ethan in 2005. Margie relinquished her multiple roles at New England Construction gradually and transitioned to her favorite role as grandma when Isabelle was born in 2002. Bethany, Gabriella, Gloria, Aram, Jack, Angelo, Luke and Charlie followed. Margie was overjoyed that that she finally had girls to spoil after raising three boys. She loved to spend time with the grandchildren. Among her favorite things to do were shopping with each of the girls and taking the boys to Benny’s (it’s a Rhode Island thing) to buy them a toy. Hosting all three families and her parents was the greatest joy of all - especially the holidays. Margie was a loving, supportive daughter and caregiver to her parents, Rose and Phil. She was a constant presence in their lives - always including them in every family event, birthdays, holidays, and grandchildren’s activities. She was heartbroken when she lost her beloved Ma suddenly and again when Dad succumbed to COVID. She was relentless about making sure that we touched base almost daily with each family – bringing Armenian rice pilaf to Angelo and the other families and often including her special meatballs with the pilaf. She loved each Daughter-in-law as her own, supporting and comforting them. She was so proud of her brother Bob who was appointed as a district court judge after over 30 years as a practicing attorney. Margie and Dave had purchased a second home in Kiawah Island, SC in 1995 and we began to spend more time there in 2017. We were looking for a strong community and Kiawah Island was not it. We explored Florida but decided that it wasn’t for us. We discovered the brand-new community of Kiawah River in November 2019. It was love at first sight. We sold the home on Kiawah Island and built a new home at Kiawah River on Johns Island in 2020. Margie and Dave traveled extensively with friends starting in 2005 a tour of Italy visiting Rome, and Tuscany. Walking tours of the Amalfi Coast followed by walking tours of the Lakes region, Cinque Terra and Tuscany were next on our list. We enjoyed multiple river boat tours including the Danube, the Rhone, and the Rhine. A golf vacation in Scotland in 2018 was one of the highlights, playing eight seaside links courses including the home of golf, the Old Course at St. Andrews and Royal Dornoch in the Highlands. Margie was so proud of her net 67 on the Old Course. A Taste of London tour in 2019 was a very special time with our close friends Linda and Paul. Our final trips in the fall of 2022 included a walking tour of Corsica and Sardinia and finally visiting Portugal including Lisbon and a riverboat tour on the Douro in October with our group of longtime friends. There were times when her illness limited what we could do but she refused to give in and insisted on maintaining her roles of Mom and Grandma. We took advantage of times when she felt better to travel, play a little golf and spend time with family and friends. Her last three months challenged her and made it difficult to maintain a positive outlook and yet she still persevered. Her family, her kindness, her grace, and the many lives she touched are her legacy.

Marjorie L. Sluter

October 2, 1948 - April 2, 2023