NEWTON CENTRE: Alison B. (Pike) Slade, age 94, of Newton Centre, a lady who devoted much of her adult life helping special needs children, died on Saturday morning, December 8, 2012, at Newton Wellesley Hospital. She was the devoted wife of the late Edward Thomas Slade for 61 years.
Born and raised in West Roxbury, she was a daughter of the late Fred Parker Hamilton and Elsie Gordon Reid Pike. Alison was a graduate of the Girl’s Latin School and continued her education at Colby College in Maine, graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Psychology. Employed briefly in banking, she left her job and spent much of the Second World War creating key punch cards in Boston as part of the war effort.
The Slades were married in 1946 and resided in West Roxbury prior to settling in Newton Centre in 1950. Alison devoted her time to creating a warm and loving home for her growing family. She was an active volunteer at Trinity Parish in Newton Centre and was a longtime organizer of Newton’s Assembly and Cotillion Dances. As her children grew older, Alison became employed with the Carroll Center for the Blind and soon discovered she had a gift for working with younger students. She joined the Newton Public Schools to work with special needs children at the Peabody School. Concurrently, she enrolled at Bridgewater State College and ultimately received her Master of Psychology and teaching certification at age 48.
Alison was passionate about special education and enjoyed many years working with her pupils at the Hyde School in Newton Highlands. She and Ed spent much of their retirement together visiting family scattered throughout the country as well as traveling to England and Scotland with elder hostel groups. When she was alone, Alison could often be found reading or working a crossword puzzle.
She is survived by four children, Katherine G. Scott-White and her husband Bernard White, Jr. of Natick, Kenny F. Slade and his wife Valerie of Mukilteo, WA, Meredith P. Schuft and her husband Christopher of Richmond, VT, and Dana C. Aker and her husband Michael of Blue Hill, ME; thirteen grandchildren, Kimberley, Michelle, Jonathan, Ian, Erik, Alice, Amanda, Stacey, Gabriel, Azariah, Amanda, Caleb, and Cerridwen; and fourteen great-grandchildren, Brooke, Kyra, Torin, Alexander, Andrew, Julia, Parker, Jagger, Cierra, Elle, Hadley, Margaret, Daniel, and Aila. She was also the sister of the late Virginia Homer, Capt. John Pike, and Elizabeth Jones.
Her Funeral Service will be held at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church, 39 East Central Street, Natick, on Tuesday, Dec. 18th at 10:00a.m. Visiting hours will be in the John Everett & Sons Funeral Home, 4 Park Street at Natick Common, Natick, on Monday 4 – 8p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Alison’s memory to the 32nd Degree Masonic Learning Center for Children, Inc., 458 Newtonville Ave., Newton, MA 02460.