Damon Tarlton Slator

Damon Tarlton Slator of Houston, Texas passed away peacefully on December 13, 2023, at the marvelous age of 101. Damon was a beloved father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and devoted husband to the love of his life, Dorothy "Dot" McDonald Slator. They were married for over 69 years until her death in 2013.

Damon was born in San Antonio on February 26, 1922, the second of four sons to James Moss Slator, Jr. and Helen Tarlton Slator. In 1930, the family moved to Houston when his father joined the legal department of the Gulf Oil Company. Damon graduated from Lamar High School in the Class of 1940. He was a member of the graduating Class of 1948 of the Rice Institute (now University), where he majored in Mechanical Engineering.

Damon was a veteran of WWII. In 1942, during his junior year at Rice, he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps (now Air Force), where he received his commission as a pilot and served as an advanced instructor. He flew the technologically advanced Super Stratofortress B-29 planes and taught other pilots how to fly at night and in fog using specialized flight instruments.

Damon met Dot on a blind date in Houston in 1942 while he was a student at Rice. After Damon "got his wings" in the Army Air Corps, Dot and Damon married in Dallas in 1944. In their early marriage, they traveled and lived in various places where Damon's military duty took him.

After the war, Damon completed his education at Rice under the GI Bill, graduating in 1948 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. Upon graduation, he joined the Lockwood and Andrews Consulting Engineers firm. He received his Professional Engineer's License in 1951.

In 1961, Damon joined Bowen Tools, Inc. as an engineer and remained there until his retirement in 1986 as Executive VP in charge of Engineering and Manufacturing. During his 25-year tenure at Bowen, he obtained numerous patents for his innovations and methods in the oil and gas industry. Notable among his accomplishments were his patent for the first coiled tubing unit in 1962 and his invention of methods for running wireline in high-pressure wells.

Damon designed and supervised the installation of the Top-Head Drive and Core Retrieval System on the Glomar Challenger Drillship for the National Science Foundation's "Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP)." This innovative work drilling cores into the ocean bottom in all the world's oceans provided data for many significant scientific breakthroughs, including the discovery of seafloor renewal at rift zones and definitive support for the Theory of Plate Tectonics.

A sixth-generation Texan, Damon had a keen interest in history. He was a direct descendant of Matthew Mark Moss, who fought in the Battle of San Jacinto in Gen. Sam Houston's army when Texas won her independence in 1836. In 1970, Damon was commissioned as a Colonel in the Texas Army by Governor Preston Smith and participated in many reenactments of historic battles in Texas.

Damon and Dot had a very active social life, were members of numerous clubs, and loved to dance, particularly to Big Band and Latin music. They were members of St. Martin's Episcopal Church since 1968. Damon was an avid tennis player and founding member of the Houston Racquet Club in 1964. After retirement, Damon took up oil painting and developed techniques that gained him a stellar reputation among his peers and awards at art shows, painting under the nom de plume of "El Cabro Viejo," the old goat.

Damon was preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy "Dot" McDonald Slator; his parents, James Moss Slator, Jr. and Helen Tarlton Slator; his brothers, James Moss Slator, III, Dick Scott Slator, and Lee Coleman Slator; his eldest daughter, Laney Slator Rickman and son-in-law Jack Rickman. He is survived by his daughters Dorothy Slator Paterson and Helen Slator Young; sons-in-law Malcolm Paterson and Holland Young; grandchildren Valda "Che" Rickman and husband Matt Crawford, Audrey Tarlton Paterson and fiancé Brandon Bagley, Rachael Baker Wattinger and husband Hunter Wattinger, Andrew Slator Paterson and wife Kim Mongcopa Paterson, Grady Damon Baker; his four great-grandchildren Sway Opal Crawford, Maxwell Slator Paterson, Isabel Llosa Paterson, and Blair Slator Wattinger; and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family is deeply grateful to the Village of River Oaks and Choice Hospice staff for their loving care and compassion in his final days.