Obituary: Earl Law Sloan III, 91, Of Ridgefield

Information and Photo Courtesy Bouton Funeral Home

RIDGEFIELD, CT — Earl Law Sloan III, 91, passed away peacefully the evening of Sept. 6, 2023, at Regional Hospice Center of Danbury. He was surrounded by his wife of 59 years, Marian Boenau Sloan; his daughter, Susan [Suzi] Sloan Hersey; and his beloved granddog, Moose, the chocolate Labrador.

Earl was born on Dec. 29, 1931, in Chicago, Illinois to Earl Law Sloan II and Frances Hepworth Sloan. The eldest of three, his brother Richard was only 14 months younger, and his sister, Dorothy Jane, 8 years younger than Earl. The family moved frequently within Illinois and Indiana during his childhood due to his father’s specialization in electronics repair, and the tough economic times.

After graduating from Quincy High School in Quincy, Illinois in 1948, Earl attended the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. As Earl knew from a very young age he wanted to be a physicist, he very much enjoyed his studies. He also played basketball, and found a camaraderie living in Koinonia House – where his cooking acumen developed while planning and preparing meals for the other men in the house. He was fortunate to share the house and college experience with Richard for a short time before his brother decided on a path in the military.

After undergrad, Earl moved to the Boston area to attend Harvard University for his masters and doctorate. Due to the nature of his dissertation research in the area of nuclear magnetic resonance, Earl could only conduct his critical experimentation from 12:30 a.m. - 5:30 a.m. (because in the 1950s, television towers ceased broadcasting television signals for the night). This constraint, combined with his needing to support himself (which he did as a graduate teaching fellow,) meant it took him twelve years to finish his doctorate. Earl published his dissertation in 1962 and was awarded his Ph.D. in physics.

Tragedy struck the family a decade earlier in 1952 when Earl’s younger brother and best friend, Richard, a pilot in the navy, died in a training exercise at just 19 years old. This loss always weighed greatly on Earl's heart. Gratefully, in 1963, mutual friends introduced Earl Sloan III to Marian Elizabeth Boenau, an elementary school teacher who worked in Harlem, up the street from her alma mater, Columbia University's Teachers College. Earl and Marian wed just six months later on July 4, 1964 at the Quaker Meetinghouse in New York City. Earl gifted a copy of his dissertation to his wife and inscribed the following: “[You] made the long, lonely years of work more endurable, and the future now is to be faced with joy.”

Dr. Earl Law Sloan III started his professional career in Melrose, Massachusetts at The National Radio Company, but soon in 1965 he was presented with an opportunity to move to a position at Perkin Elmer in Wilton. The job was compelling, as was the fact it was geographically much closer to Marian's parents in Flushing, Queens. Earl's professional focus shifted from nuclear magnetic resonance to the field of optics, and he was part of the first wave of Americans to use computers as an integral part of complex calculations. The nature of Earl's career was classified, and few details of his body of work on special projects have ever been shared with friends or family. His division at Perkin Elmer was eventually sold to a division of Hughes Aircraft, and so Earl finished his career at Hughes Danbury Optical Systems.

Earl and Marian moved to Ridgefield in 1965 and purchased a spec home in a housing development on Airline Lane. When this Tuccio project was completed, the name of the road was eventually changed to Mimosa Circle. Over nearly six decades in this same house, Earl and Marian raised their only child, Suzi, hosted many years of Marian’s extended “Boenau family” reunions, provided a home for George and Marian Boenau when Marian, Sr.'s heath declined, and served as a beloved vacation spot for their grandsons, Sebastian and Tristan Hersey.

Earl was an incredibly intelligent man with a variety of hobbies and interests. He was a lifelong opera enthusiast and spent many Saturdays listening to live opera broadcasts from The Met in the comfort of his home office. He also loved Gilbert and Sullivan, and he took his family to annual summer performances at a regional theater company. Earl was also an avid UConn Women's Basketball fan for many, many years. As a scientist, he loved programs on space, as well as science fiction. He also enjoyed reading literary classics such as Jane Austen and watching their film adaptations. Earl’s devotion to computers, programming, and technology and his desire to stay on top of the latest advancements was important to him, even in retirement. Earl spent time mentoring several post graduate students, and it brought him great satisfaction to help them find employment whenever possible.

Earl retired in 1996 which gave him the opportunity to use his incredible culinary skills to feed his family, as well as create and cook for the monthly senior luncheons at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Ridgefield. He also served there as a lay Eucharistic Minister, helped lead bible study, played in the hand bell choir, lead the Giving Committee, and set up the elaborate electrical needs for many years at the annual Nutmeg Festival. Outside church activities, Earl also enjoyed the exercise classes at Founders Hall in Ridgefield, as well as their lectures on various historical and cultural topics. Until his health required otherwise, he made several trips per year to Northern Virginia to visit his grandsons.

Earl was known by family, friends, and community members as an incredibly bright yet humble, kind, and generous man. His sense of humor was evident his whole life, and he maintained his dry wit even to his very last days.

Earl and Marian moved to Benchmark at Ridgefield Crossings Assisted Living in May 2022. Earl enjoyed a full year of community living before he required Ridgefield Visiting Nursing Association hospice services beginning in May 2023. As Earl’s needs grew in August, he was transferred to Regional Hospice Center of Danbury for his final two weeks. Earl is survived by his wife, Marian Sloan of Ridgefield; his daughter Susan [Suzi] Sloan (Mark) Hersey of Northern Virginia; his grandsons, Sebastian Hersey of Richmond, Virginia, and Tristan Hersey of Austin, Texas; his sister Dorothy Jane Sloan of Milton, New Hampshire; extended family of nieces and nephews, and grandnieces and grandnephews; as well as many cousins from his family by marriage, the Boenau clan. He will be greatly missed.

In lieu of flowers, donations are graciously welcomed on behalf of Earl to the Ridgefield Visiting Nursing Association https://rvnahealth.org/service... or Regional Hospice Center https://regionalhospicect.org

Friends, family, and his community are invited to a Memorial Service to celebrate Earl's life at First Congregational Church, 103 Main Street, Ridgefield, Connecticut, on Oct. 21, 2023 at 10:30 a.m.