Jean Miles Sluder

JEAN M. SLUDER Jean Miles Sluder, 91, of Arden, died peacefully at home after a short illness on Sunday, November 4, 2001. She was born in Alexander, NC and was a life-long resident of Buncombe County. She was the daughter of the late Curtis and Stella Miles. She was also preceded in death by her husband of 63 years, Ganes Sluder; a sister, Anna Mae Miles; and two great grandchildren, infants Emily Tandy and Hunter Laye. Jean Sluder was the valedictorian of the first graduating class of French Broad High School in 1928. She attended Asheville Normal School for Teachers and later graduated from Western Carolina College in Cullowhee. She was a former member of the North Carolina Education Assosciation. She retired after teaching 30 years in the Buncombe County School District, having taught at Fairview, French Broad and Woodfin schools. She spent many years traveling extensively, volunteering for Meals on Wheels, quilting and gardening. She was a member of Malvern Hills Presbyterian Church in West Asheville. She is survived by sons Gerald Miles Sluder and his wife Jewell, Charles Curtis Sluder and his wifeMarjorie, daughters Linda Tandy and her husband Joe, Nancy Watkins and her husband Jim, all of the Asheville area and Norma Young of Camden, SC; twelve grandchildren, Joe Tandy III, Max and Jerry Wang, Rick Watkins and David Sluder all of the Asheville area, Mike Tandy of Wilson, NC, Ken Sluder of Durham, NC, Kevin Sluder of Huntington Beach, CA, Hal Young of Smithfield, NC, Jimmy Watkins of Douglasville, GA, Susan Peckham of Colorado Springs, CO, and Anna Laye of Charleston, SC; and 12 great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be conducted by Pastor Douglas Tilley at 2:00 pm Tuesday at Malvern Hills Presbyterian Church. Burial will follow at Mountain View Baptist Church Cemetery in the Alexander community. Pallbearers will be her grandsons. The family will receive friends from 7-8:30 pm Monday at Groce Funeral Home on Patton Avenue. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Malvern Hills Presbyterian Church, 2 Bear Creek Road, Asheville, NC 28806 or to Mountain Area Hospice, PO Box 25338, Asheville, NC 28813.