Robert “Bob” Sloan, husband of Hazel Sloan, died September 6, 2022. He was 86.
Robert Leo Sloan Jr. was the oldest of six children, born on October 19, 1935, to Alice Sloan and Robert Leo Sloan Sr. Bob graduated from North High School in Des Moines, Iowa, and attended the University of Iowa in Iowa City, where he met Hazel Crowson. Bob and Hazel married on June 29, 1957.
Bob was employed as a surgical technician at the Veterans Administration hospital in Des Moines for several years before transferring to the VA hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1961. After receiving a number of honors and commendations, he retired from the VA after 43 years of committed service.
Alongside his vocational life in the workplace, Bob was also committed to ministry. He and Hazel were founding members of Community Covenant Church in Minneapolis and served on a variety of boards and/or committees within the Evangelical Covenant Church, including the Northwest Conference, the Minnehaha Academy Board of Education, the Board of Benevolence, Church Growth and Evangelism, and the Black Manifesto committee, which later became the African American Ministers Association (AAMA). In 1985, he was honored with the Irving C. Lambert Award for excellence in urban ministry.
His ministry extended beyond the walls of the church and into the community, where he alongside several others in north Minneapolis helped to establish community radio station KMOJ in 1978, as well one of the first affordable-housing developments in north Minneapolis, the Bethune Park Apartments. Both institutions continue to serve residents in the community today.
Bob was known and beloved not only by his daughters but by many young people around the church and neighborhood. He was known as a voice of encouragement, often attending community events. Bob enjoyed fishing and golfing, being a tennis instructor with the Inner City Tennis program, playing the bass fiddle, making delicious barbecue, and baking decadent cookies, cakes, and pies.
Bob was preceded in death by his daughter Yvonne Darlene Smith. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Hazel; daughters Phyllis Jean, Denise (Rayford), and godchild TaLawna (John), son-in-law, Felton L. Smith; and five grandchildren.
Services to honor his memory were held at Washburn–McReavy Glen Haven Funeral Chapel & Memorial Gardens in Crystal, Minnesota on September 24.
Peace be to his memory.
