Arthur "Pete" Page Sloss Jr.

Arthur Page Sloss Jr., also known as “Pete,” passed away on August 28, 2019 at the age of 93. He died at his home in Birmingham, surrounded by family. Pete was preceded in death by his parents, Arthur Page Sloss, Sr. and Catherine Jones Sloss. He is survived by his devoted wife of 68 years, Caroline Lowrey Sloss, his brother, James McLean Sloss (Radha), residing in Santa Barbara, CA, three daughters, Catherine Sloss Jones (Paul), Carolyn Sloss Ratliff (Will) and Leigh Sloss-Corra (Stan), all in Birmingham, as well as six grandchildren, Arthur Crenshaw (Chelsea), Tom, Cassie and Lillie Ratliff and George and Sophie Sloss-Corra, and two great-grandchildren. Pete Sloss was born in Birmingham, the great-grandson of Col. James Withers Sloss, who built Sloss Furnaces and led the early development of the city of Birmingham. After graduating from Sewanee Military Academy in 1943, he joined the Merchant Marine and sailed around the world during some of the most perilous years of World War II. Shortly after being discharged, he was drafted and served four years in the US Army during the Korean War.

It was during this time that he met and fell in love with Caroline Lowrey, a native of Thomaston, AL, Maid of Cotton and Miss Alabama Runner-Up, who was a soprano, at that time singing with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The two eloped on New Year’s Eve, 1951, in Arlington, VA, and ultimately moved to Birmingham to start their lives together. Pete joined his father, Arthur Page Sloss Sr., known as “Pete” or “Popa Pete,” at Shepherd-Sloss Realty, and began working in real estate in 1952. Among his earliest projects were successful neighborhood housing developments in Titusville, Homewood and Mountain Brook, all much needed in post-war Birmingham. With his dad, Pete subsequently focused more on commercial real estate. Together they continued developing Five Points West, the first shopping center in Alabama. Pete and Popa Pete worked side by side for the next 25 years, buying and developing buildings and properties in Birmingham, as well as in the border cities of Laredo and Eagle Pass, Texas. They made many dear friends in Texas and Mexico over the years, and welcomed any opportunity to drive down for a visit. Although Pete’s brother, James (Jimmy), had married, moved to California and was working as a professor at UC Santa Barbara, Pete and his father always included Jimmy as a partner on their business deals. They were a tight trio and visited each other often. Almost every day, Pete and Jimmy continued to talk on the phone with humor and great affection, until the end.

Meanwhile, Pete and Caroline settled into a new house near the Botanical Gardens, raised their three daughters and enjoyed a happy family life together. Pete and Caroline both became pilots and flew their young family all over the country and to the Bahamas.. When Pete’s father passed away in 1974, his eldest daughter Cathy came to work with him, which launched a new chapter in his real estate career. Over the next 40 years, Pete and Cathy would build and develop an impressive portfolio of iconic properties in Birmingham, including Ridge Park, Park Place, One Federal Place, the Young and Vann Building and the historic landmark district known as Pepper Place, home to the Pepper Place Farmers Market. To insure his family life was as exciting as his work life, Pete bought the Caroline, a 42-foot sailboat, and later, the Snowhawk, a 54-foot Little Harbor, and spent every moment he wasn’t working, with his family and friends, happily sailing the Gulf, around the Bahamas, and up the Atlantic Coast, as far north as Nova Scotia. Ne Camden, Maine was a regular summering spot, and the friends he made there were always delighted when they’d see them sailing into port again.

As a life-long resident of Birmingham, Pete gave his time and resources generously to organizations he cared about. He founded and was president of the Birmingham Soaring Society. He served on the Board of Sloss Furnaces, and the Southern Museum of Flight. An active member of the Birmingham Rotary Club, he was named a Paul Harris Fellow. He was a proud member of the New York Yacht Club and won a silver cup in the 1998 Annual Cruise. He was also a member of The Mountain Brook Club, The Club, Birmingham Aero Club and the Beaux Arts Krewe. In the 1960s, Pete was on the Vestry and raised his family at Church of the Advent, however, in later years, to support his daughters who sang in the choir, was a more frequent attendee of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. He received many honors in his lifetime, notably from the American Diabetes Association, and from Sloss Furnaces. He was a member of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, and for decades enjoyed early morning walks through the roses, poppies, wildflowers, and lilies.

All his life’s accomplishments pale in comparison to the mark he made as a husband, father and friend to so many. Pete was truly and deeply loved. Known for his thoughtfulness and ability to listen, he always offered sound advice in return. He was an adventurer and a doer, “kind and refined,” as an old friend used to say. He loved sports cars, sailboats, airplanes, Haagen Dasz ice cream, Tony Bennett and “60 Minutes.” With Caroline by his side to the end, three devoted daughters around him and family and friends in the wings, he left the world in peace, sailing off on a sea of love.

The family of Pete Sloss wishes to thank the incredible kindness and loving care of De’Quastaye Oliver, Katiera Sanders, Shavon Sykes, Alee Wright and Sharline Brown who made it possible for him to spend his declining months at home; also the good people of Affinity Hospice. A service will be held on Tuesday, September 3rd at St. Luke's Church, with a funeral at 3pm, and reception at the church at 4pm. A family graveside service will be held at Oak Hill Cemetery. The family requests that any memorials be made to Sloss Furnaces Foundation, 20 32nd Street North, Birmingham, AL 35222, or Friends of the Pepper Place Farmers Market, 1130 22nd St. South, Birmingham, AL 35205.