Joseph Edward Slaughter

Joseph Edward Slaughter died at his home in Lakewood, WA on July 8, 2018. He was 69 years old.

He was born in Red Bank, Tennessee on July 8, 1949, to James E. Slaughter and Wilma E. Stradley. After spending his first few years in Tennessee and Nebraska, Joe moved to Ellensburg, WA as a child and attended Hebeler Elementary. When Joe was nine years old, his mother married Roy Trout and the family moved to Selah, WA. He graduated Selah High School in 1968, having lettered in both football and wrestling.

Joe joined the Army in 1969 and served as an MP in Vietnam. After returning to the States, he worked briefly for the Wapato Police Department before returning to Ellensburg where he joined the Central Washington University campus police force while also going to school full-time. He graduated with his degree in Law & Justice in 1977. During his years at CWU, he did a stint as Acting Chief of the campus police and also served as President of the Washington State Crime Prevention Association. After leaving law enforcement for medical reasons in the mid '80s, Joe owned and operated a security company for a short time before finding his second career as a tow truck driver.

He is survived by his son Jed (Ann) of Tacoma; daughter Erin of Ellensburg; brother Lonnie of Lakewood; grandchildren Toby and Clara of Tacoma; stepbrothers Edmond (Alice) Trout of Albany, OR, and Virgil (Joyce) Trout of Mill City, OR; as well as a number of nieces and nephews, cousins, aunts, and a few late-in-life-discovered half-siblings, scattered around Washington and Oregon and beyond.

He will be interred with military honors at Tahoma National Cemetary in Kent, WA. At his request, there will be no services held.


Arrangements by Edwards Memorial, Funerals Homes, Chapels and Crematories.
253-566-1008

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