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Loretta LaFreniere Slater

Also Loretta LaFreniere · Loretta Slater

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypePerson
ErasModern era
On this page
Person
Active
fl. 1962–1974
Work
Employee in Lansing
Education
Commercial course, Ferris Institute · Ferris State College graduate
Awards
Ferris Institute commercial-course award and plaque
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
communityreligioneducation

Summary

Loretta Jean LaFreniere Slater, daughter of D. Archie and Frances (Connaghan) LaFreniere of St. James, was a Ferris Institute commercial-course graduate who married Kenneth Lloyd Slater of Lansing at Holy Cross Church on September 30, 1972.123 She remained active in Beaver Island community life for decades afterward while living in the Lansing area.45

History

The June 1962 Beacon reported Loretta LaFreniere completing a commercial course at Ferris Institute, receiving a $50 award and plaque, passing a Civil Service examination, and expecting State employment.1 In May 1972 her parents announced her engagement to Kenneth Lloyd Slater, son of Mr. and Mrs. Guy Slater of Sterling, Colorado; the notice identified her as a Ferris State College graduate working in Lansing.2 The wedding took place at Holy Cross Church on September 30, 1972, with her brother Mark LaFreniere serving as an usher.3 Their daughter, Brooke Elizabeth, was born August 28, 1974, with grandparents Mr. and Mrs. Archie LaFreniere.6

An obituary for her father, Archie LaFreniere, published in December 1992, identifies Loretta Slater of DeWitt as one of his seven children by his September 1940 marriage to Frances Connaghan, alongside siblings Alvin, Glen, Joan Becker, Mark, Sandy LoDico, and Judy Hansal, and thanks “Loretta, Sandy, Judy, Glen, and Mark” for their part in the tribute; the obituary lists eight grandchildren, including Brooke.7 In February 1991 the Beacon printed a letter from her husband Ken, one of twelve Michigan Air National Guardsmen from the Battle Creek base deployed to Fort Polk, Louisiana, addressed to “his wife, Loretta LaFreniere Slater, and family in DeWitt, Michigan”; Loretta was quoted on the hospitality shown the guardsmen’s families in Covington, Louisiana.8

Civic and community life, 1982–2010

Living off-island, Loretta LaFreniere Slater maintained decades of recorded ties to Beaver Island community life through the Beacon. In August 1990 she was among the “alumni from way back” who joined a reunion of the island’s high school class of 1969, held at the home of Colleen and Buddy Martin.9 In August 1995 she signed, as an apparent organizer, a Beacon notice announcing the Hugh and Catherine Connaghan family reunion at the Parish Hall — evidently her mother’s extended family, since her father’s obituary names her mother as the former Frances Connaghan.10

She supported island fundraising repeatedly and over a long span: typing an issue of the Beacon in 1983;11 donating a Cabbage Patch doll raffled at the island’s Fourth of July carnival in 1982, and again, with Ken, for a memorial-fund raffle in 1985 that raised close to $200;124 competing as part of the winning team in a February “road rally” fundraiser in both 1993 and 2003;1314 and, with Ken, repeatedly facilitating truck purchases and raffles that helped fund the Beaver Island Rural Health Center in 2003 and 2004 by authorizing purchases through Ken’s General Motors employee discount.1516 She was listed among the officers of the AmVets Ladies Auxiliary, installed as second/third vice president in 2008.17

She also took part in several efforts to record island history. In 2007 she and Amy Burris undertook to document who had contributed rocks to the Arranmore Grotto and which homesteads they came from, a record intended for the permanent archives of Holy Cross Catholic Church and the Beaver Island Historical Society.18 In 2010 she was one of several islanders, including Marie LaFreniere and a group of “old timers,” who helped identify people in old photographs Ed Wojan was compiling for the Historical Society.19 She was listed as a Beaver Island Hospice Volunteer in 2006, and a February 2006 reader’s letter thanks her, alongside Sandy LoDico and Margaret Bass, for providing respite care to an elderly island resident.520 A October 2004 Beacon list of islanders’ relatives serving in the US military during the Iraq and Afghanistan deployments names Sgt. Kevin Phillips, US Army, as her and Ken’s son-in-law.21

Significance

No single event in the record marks Loretta LaFreniere Slater as a public figure; her significance in the Beacon’s pages is cumulative; four decades of small, repeated acts of support for island institutions — the school she attended, the health center, the historical society, hospice care, and extended family gatherings — sustained mostly from off-island. The pattern is common among islanders who moved away for work but kept documented ties home, and this article’s evidentiary base illustrates how thoroughly the Beacon’s routine columns can document such a life without any single source treating her as its subject.

Evidence and limits

No source held here gives Loretta LaFreniere Slater’s birth date or confirms she is the mother named, unnamed, in the August 1974 birth notice for Brooke Elizabeth Slater; the parentage is inferred from the 1972 marriage and the LaFreniere grandparents named in that notice, not independently proven. The 1995 Connaghan reunion notice does not itself state that Frances Connaghan LaFreniere is Loretta’s mother; that link is drawn from the 1992 obituary of Archie LaFreniere held separately. Several Beacon volunteer listings (2005, 2007, 2010) give Loretta Slater’s home telephone number; this article omits it as unnecessary for the historical record.

Open questions

  • What State agency employed her after her 1962 Civil Service examination?
  • Is she still living in the Lansing/DeWitt area?
  • Which of the Slaters’ children is Sgt. Kevin Phillips’s spouse, and is that child the Brooke Elizabeth Slater born in 1974?

See also

Footnotes

  1. Beaver Beacon, June 1962, “School News.” ↩ ↩2

  2. Beaver Beacon, May 1972, “LaFreniere - Slater” engagement notice. ↩ ↩2

  3. Beaver Beacon, October–November 1972, “Weddings: LaFreniere–Slater.” ↩ ↩2

  4. Beaver Beacon, June 1985 and August 1985, memorial-fund raffle notices. ↩ ↩2

  5. Beaver Beacon, November 2006, Hospice Volunteers listing. ↩ ↩2

  6. Beaver Beacon, August 1974, “Births.” ↩

  7. Beaver Beacon, December 1992, “Archie LaFreniere” obituary. ↩

  8. Beaver Beacon, February 1991, “Letter from Ken Slater.” ↩

  9. Beaver Beacon, August 1990, class-of-1969 reunion report. ↩

  10. Beaver Beacon, August 1995, “The Hugh & Catherine Connaghan Family Reunion” notice. ↩

  11. Beaver Beacon, June 1983, “Thank You.” ↩

  12. Beaver Beacon, July 1982, community column. ↩

  13. Beaver Beacon, February 1993, road-rally report. ↩

  14. Beaver Beacon, February 2003, road-rally report. ↩

  15. Beaver Beacon, June 2003, Beaver Island Rural Health Center fundraising report. ↩

  16. Beaver Beacon, February 2004, Beaver Island Rural Health Center truck-raffle report. ↩

  17. Beaver Beacon, May 2008, AmVets Ladies Auxiliary officer installation report. ↩

  18. Beaver Beacon, October 2007, “For Posterity” — Arranmore Grotto record project. ↩

  19. Beaver Beacon, September 2010, Historical Society photo-identification project report. ↩

  20. Beaver Beacon, February 2006, reader letter thanking respite-care volunteers. ↩

  21. Beaver Beacon, October 2004, list of islanders’ relatives in military service. ↩

Sources

  1. Reports Loretta LaFreniere completing a commercial course at Ferris Institute, receiving a $50 award and plaque, passing a Civil Service examination, and expecting State employment. It does not name the agency or supply a school or personnel record.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1962-06_Beaver-Beacon
  2. The held four-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1962-06_Beaver-Beacon
  3. Identifies LaFreniere as the daughter of D. Archie and Mrs. LaFreniere of St. James, a Ferris State College graduate working in Lansing, and the September 30 bride.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1972-10_Beaver-Beacon
  4. The held eleven-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1972-10_Beaver-Beacon
  5. Names Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Slater as parents of Brooke Elizabeth Slater and Mr. and Mrs. Archie LaFreniere as grandparents; the mother is not named, so continuity with Loretta is probable from the 1972 marriage and parentage but not independently proven.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1974-08_Beaver-Beacon
  6. The held ten-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1974-08_Beaver-Beacon
  7. Announces the engagement of Loretta Jean LaFreniere, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. Archie LaFreniere, to Kenneth Lloyd Slater of Lansing, son of Mr. and Mrs. Guy Slater of Colorado, with a September 30 wedding planned.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1972-05_Beaver-Beacon
  8. Reports Archie LaFreniere married the late Francis Connaghan in September 1940 and raised seven children, including Loretta Slater of DeWitt; names her siblings Alvin, Glen, Joan Becker, Mark, Sandy LoDico, and Judy Hansal. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1992-12_Beaver-Beacon
  9. Prints a letter from Ken Slater, one of 12 Michigan Air National Guardsmen from the Battle Creek base stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana since December 11, 1990, to his wife Loretta LaFreniere Slater and family in DeWitt, Michigan; quotes Loretta on the hospitality shown the guardsmen's families in Covington, Louisiana. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1991-02_Beaver-Beacon
  10. Thanks Loretta (LaFreniere) Slater for typing that issue of the Beacon. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1983-06_Beaver-Beacon
  11. Credits Loretta and Ken Slater for donating a Cabbage Patch Doll for a memorial-fund raffle; the August issue reports the raffle raised close to $200. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1985-06_Beaver-Beacon
  12. Beaver Beacon, November 2006, Hospice Volunteers listing.
    Lists Loretta Slater among the island's Hospice Volunteers, with a contact phone number. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2006-11_Beaver-Beacon
  13. Names Loretta LaFreniere Slater among alumni attending an August 1990 reunion of the island school's class of 1969, held at the home of Colleen and Buddy Martin. She is listed as an attendee, not a class member. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1990-08_Beaver-Beacon
  14. A reunion announcement for the Parish Hall is signed "Sincerely, Loretta Slater," indicating an organizing role. It does not itself state her relationship to Hugh and Catherine Connaghan. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1995-08_Beaver-Beacon
  15. Reports Loretta Slater donating a Cabbage Patch doll to be raffled at the Fourth of July carnival, three years before the same donation is separately reported in 1985. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1982-07_Beaver-Beacon
  16. Names Loretta Slater as part of the winning team, with Phil and Joanie Becker, Colleen Martin, Karen Wogan and Shelly Hayes, in a fourteen-car Valentine's road rally around the island. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1993-02_Beaver-Beacon
  17. Beaver Beacon, February 2003, road-rally report.
    Names Loretta Slater on the winning team of a similar mid-February road rally a decade later, with a near-identical roster. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2003-02_Beaver-Beacon
  18. Beaver Beacon, June 2003, Beaver Island Rural Health Center fundraising report.
    Thanks Ken and Loretta Slater for authorizing a truck purchase for the health center through Ken's General Motors employee discount, alongside board member Pete LoDico's negotiation of the purchase. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2003-06_Beaver-Beacon
  19. Beaver Beacon, February 2004, Beaver Island Rural Health Center truck-raffle report.
    Reports plans for a second, larger truck raffle for the health center, its purchase again facilitated by Ken and Loretta Slater. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2004-02_Beaver-Beacon
  20. Beaver Beacon, May 2008, AmVets Ladies Auxiliary officer installation report.
    Lists Loretta Slater installed as Second/Third Vice President of the AmVets Ladies Auxiliary at a luncheon at Stoney Acres, April 16. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2008-05_Beaver-Beacon
  21. Beaver Beacon, October 2007, "For Posterity" — Arranmore Grotto record project.
    Reports Amy Burris and Loretta Slater undertaking to record who brought rocks to the Arranmore Grotto and from which homesteads, intended for the Holy Cross Catholic Church and Beaver Island Historical Society archives. Gives a home phone number for Slater, omitted here. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2007-10_Beaver-Beacon
  22. Beaver Beacon, September 2010, Historical Society photo-identification project report.
    Reports Marie LaFreniere and Loretta Slater among islanders who helped identify people in old photographs Ed Wojan was compiling for the Historical Society. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2010-09_Beaver-Beacon
  23. Beaver Beacon, February 2006, reader letter thanking respite-care volunteers.
    A letter from Jim and Lynne Flanagan thanks Sandy LoDico, Loretta Slater, and Margaret Bass, among others, for providing respite care and companionship to an elderly island resident; specific caregiving details concerning that resident are not repeated in this article. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2006-02_Beaver-Beacon
  24. Beaver Beacon, October 2004, list of islanders' relatives in military service.
    Names Sgt. Kevin Phillips, US Army, as son-in-law of Ken and Loretta Slater, in a list of islanders' relatives serving in Iraq and Afghanistan deployments. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2004-10_Beaver-Beacon

Added 1 August 2026 · revised 5 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Loretta LaFreniere Slater”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/people/loretta-lafreniere-slater/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, June 1962, “School News.” (and 23 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-05. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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