Jerome and Margery C. Slack Scholarship

This scholarship was established in December 1993 by Mr. D. Jerome Slack, a native of the Mesick-Buckley area. Mr. Slack"s maternal grandfather, Jesse Oatley, and his brothers homesteaded land in Antioch Township near Mesick in the late 1870s. Shortly after settling, they built the area"s first schoolhouse to educate their children. Those early students included Alice Oatley, Mr. Slack"s mother, who later earned a teaching certificate and taught in the Mesick area for 30 years. The Oatley family includes 21 teachers. Mr. Slack graduated from Mesick High School and taught at the Buckley School before being drafted into service during World War II. Mr. Slack returned to northwest Michigan, opening a building supply company in Thompsonville and later in Cadillac. Since 1970 when he sold these enterprises, he has been worked in real estate.