After a prolonged illness, Howard Slaughter passed away in his home in Blue Ridge on May 21, 2026. He is survived by three daughters, four grandbabies, and many sisters, brothers, family, and friends who loved him.

A skillful raconteur who loved a good story, Howard was for decades a fixture in the Blue Ridge social and political scenes. His life from the beginning was one of hard work and reinvention. Born in Lithonia, his first job saw him spending his boyhood summers picking cotton alongside his brothers in the fields. He occasionally worked in a sawmill with his father, where he was tasked with catching the larger fish before they could jam up the wheel. In his early teens, he took a job as a janitor in the Singer sewing machine factory and soon managed to prove his skills as a self-taught repairman. Not long after, he plied his trade as an electrician, and alongside one of his younger brothers, wired half the homes in the southeast Atlanta neighborhood of Grant Park.

As he settled into fatherhood, Howard started the next chapter of his many careers as a car salesman. Eventually, he opened his own used car dealership in Forest Park, Georgia, and became a well-known and politically connected small businessman; two descriptions by which he was known for the rest of his life. Eventually, he felt called to the mountains and made the move to Fannin County, where he developed land, built cabins, and was instrumental in negotiating the political minefield of changing Fannin from dry to wet (the latter of which was not entirely altruistic as he loved a good scotch with his steak). As the economy changed, so did Howard. He settled into his final career by opening Blue Ridge Coin Laundry, a business that successfully seeded his eventual retirement.

Other than his children and grandchildren, one of Howard's great points of pride was his advocacy for the North Georgia Mountain Crisis Network, but very few know that he did the work in memory of his own beloved mother, herself a victim of domestic violence. He was never the type to be idle and dismissed his later health issues with a shrug and the words, "it is what it is." He did what he could when he could do it, and that's better than most can say. By his friends, he will be remembered as a veritable Weeble-Wobble who always bounced back from adversity. Some will know him for his tender heart. Others will know him for his generosity. Still more will remember him as a good friend, a great dancer, a charming host, an astute advisor, and a man who lived his life exactly as he wanted.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to the North Georgia Crisis Center.

Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.akinscobb.com

Akins-Cobb Funerals & Cremations of Blue Ridge, GA is in charge of these arrangements.