Billie Slater, 82, formerly of El Paso, Texas passed away in Austin, Texas on March 11, 2020 from complications of Alzheimer's Disease.  She was preceded in death by her husband, Lynn Slater.

Billie was born to Kate and William McKenzie in Atlanta on July 16, 1937 and grew up with sisters Katherine and Anne (deceased), Carolyn and Nancy.

Always intellectual, Billie attended Georgia State University (serving as President of the Panhellenic Council, participating in drama and tennis) and later obtained two Master's Degrees from the University of Texas at El Paso: one in English and another in Social Work. 

Billie excelled at everything she did, whether it be marketing, real estate (she was named the highest selling realtor in El Paso in 1980), teaching English at UTEP or working for Hospice of El Paso (she was named El Paso's Social Worker of the Year in 1993).

In the early 1960s she and her first husband, Edward, worked actively in Atlanta's Civil Rights Movement, alongside now deceased Congressman John Lewis. Her determination to serve the underserved was constant; she worked ceaselessly in social justice, from helping immigrants in El Paso in the 1970s to leading the Social Justice Committee, along with husband Lynn, at their church in Austin in the early 2000s. She and Lynn also committed their time and energies working with Death Row inmates and the homeless.

Her determination may have come from surviving a devastating bout of cancer when she was three, the resulting years of poverty experienced by her family, and lifelong challenges with related medical issues. Diagnosed with dementia at 67, Billie lived with the disease for fifteen years before succumbing to a broken hip.

She was known for her quick thinking, analytical abilities and her hilarity. She could be relied upon always for the comment that could sum up a situation with humor and insight, and she made us all laugh - hard - even at the very end of her life.

Billie was able to spot people's latent talents and abilities and prove them to those people; many have recounted that Billie believed in them before they believed in themselves. Her purpose in life was to help others and she modeled that for the people around her. Even at the end of her life, as other abilities faded, she continued to show her care and concern for those around her.

With her first husband, Edward Leonard, she had children William David Leonard and Laura Leonard Stiles. She joyfully added three children to her family when she married Lynn Slater in 1975: Sharon Rose Slater, Beverly Anne Slater and Lynn Slater, Jr.

She is survived by her five children and four grandchildren: Emma Stiles, Kincaid & Henry Leonard and Charlie Beck; her sisters Nancy McKenzie and Carolyn Lawrence; and many other family members and beloved friends.

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