Carlon Ray Slay Obituary (1943 - 2020)

Carlon Ray Slay, 77, of Centerville, went to be with his Heavenly Father July 21, 2020. He was born the son of Mr. Harold and Florence (Miner) Slay on July 3, 1943 in Lovilia Iowa. He graduated from Lovilia High School in 1961. On December 2, 1962, he married the love of his life, Mary Darlene Spring, in Udell, Iowa, and they were blessed with 3 daughters, Shelley Lynn, Cindy Joleen, and Vicki Jo. He worked with his Father, Harold, at his bottle gas company and the family furniture and hardware store. Then they owned Slay's Dairy Cream in Lovilia for 10 years. He had many great stories of serving regular customers and could still to his last day make the tallest ice cream cone you have ever seen. After working for the dairy cream he helped Gilbert Funeral Home and Ambulance. He was a volunteer firefighter for the Lovilia Fire department for numerous years. He worked for Chicago Rivet in Albia until his retirement. He lived in Lovilia Iowa for 54 years and moved to Centerville, Iowa in 1997. He was a member of First Baptist Church in Centerville and was the custodian there for several years. He took the utmost pride in keeping his church and his Lord's house spotless. In his later years in life, he loved driving Amish friends places and they loved him. He had story after story after story of his many Amish friends he visited, and laughed with, and enjoyed them so much. In Carlon's younger years, he loved fast cars. He always had a hotrod like his red and white 55' Chevy 2 door hardtop, with which he picked up his future wife when they met at the Hilltop skating rink. He loved to race the cars, and he loved even more telling the stories of how fast they would go, but most importantly how fast he could get wherever he was going. As a young boy he loved to squirrel hunt with some of his Lovilia buddies and he always had a crazy story to tell about a hunt. He loved to hunt quail and pheasant with his beloved bird dog Pal. He never had a son so he taught his two girls gun safety, and how to shoot, and took them hunting with him. He loved to go ice fishing and fish for crappies in the spring of the year when he wasn't mushroom hunting, and enjoyed having friends and family over for big fish fries. He enjoyed playing cards with different groups of friends over the years. Most of all Carlon loved his Lord and Savior and his family, and spending time with them was the most important thing in the world to him. The absolute stars in his eyes were his two grandchildren, Leah Irene and Joshua David, and his pride and joy was his two great-grandchildren, Norah Mae and Judson Bryan. He could not get enough of them and loved being their Great Papa. He was preceded in death by his parents, Harold and Florence Slay, his oldest daughter, Shelly Lynn Slay, and a brother, Gary Slay. Carlon is survived by his loving wife Mary Darlene Slay who is left to cherish his memory; daughter, Cindy Joleen Farrington and husband Scott; daughter, Vicki Jo Ballalatak and husband Dean; two grandchildren, Leah Irene Stearns and husband Mitch, Joshua David Farrington and wife Nicki; two great-grandchildren, Norah Mae Stearns and Judson Bryan Stearns; two step-grandchildren, Chad Ballalatak, and Lisa Valentine and husband Jason; many special nephews and nieces; one Brother in Law and Sister in law, Doyle and Irene Spring, and many friends. Funeral Services will be held at 1:00 p.m., Friday, July 24, 2020 at the First Baptist Church in Centerville with Pastor Dennis Higgins officiating. Burial will follow in Woodlawn Cemetery in Lovilia. Visitation will be held on Thursday, July 23, 2020, opening to the public at 2:00 p.m., and Carlon's family will be present to greet family and friends from 5-7 p.m., Thursday evening at Sinnott Funeral Home in Albia. According to the rules put in place by the Iowa Department of Public Health, proper social distancing and reasonable personal protective equipment is advised for attending a religious public event. Carlon's family is requesting that everyone wear a mask at the visitation and service. Memorials may be directed to the family and they will be determined at a later date. Online condolences may be left for the family at sinnottfuneralhome.com