William (“Bill”) Mayfield Slaughter died peacefully at home on the morning of January 14, 2024 with Diana, his wife of 55 years, by his side. He was one month shy of his 85th birthday.
Bill was born on February 24, 1939, in Fairfield, Alabama to the late Mayfield Ezekiel Slaughter and Mary Frank (Smith) of Birmingham. Beginning life in the shadow of both the Great Depression and World War II, Bill spent his earliest years on army bases, following the steps of his father’s service in the US Army as an artillery captain (and one of the first American soldiers to see action in WWII across campaigns in North Africa, Sicily and Italy.)
After the war, the family settled in Homewood, Alabama, where Bill was a standout student at Edgewood Elementary School. Of short stature and missing two fingers on his left hand, Bill was never destined for great athletic accomplishment. But his first-rate mind impressed his teachers and brought him to the attention of the organizers of a new private day and boarding school in Shelby County. Bill was a student in ninth grade at Indian Springs School (Helena, Alabama) on the day it opened in 1952, beginning a lifelong association with ISS that would span more than seven decades as a student, alumnus, parent, grandparent, board member, and Chairman of the Board of Governors.
After Indian Springs, Bill attended Harvard College, where he concentrated in physics, graduating with an A.B. degree, and where he was a member of Leverett House and the Class of 1960. Bill then returned to Birmingham in 1961 to work for Rust Engineering. There, he quickly drew the attention of leaders in Birmingham’s engineering community by managing the installation of a new IBM 7000 series computer for the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), the first mainframe computer system in the city of Birmingham. Subsequently at Rust, he worked on the design and construction of the arming tower for the Atlas rocket boosters used in the Mercury and Gemini missions of the US Space Program.
In 1963, Bill left Rust to attend the University of Viriginia Law School, beginning another lifelong association with a cherished educational institution. As skilled with words as with a slide rule, Bill was again an outstanding student at Virginia Law, graduating second in his class and as an editor of the Virginia Law Review. Spurning offers from top law firms in New York and Los Angeles, Bill again returned to Birmingham to join a new class of young civic leaders as an associate at Bradley, Arant, Rose and White. It was during the earliest years of his legal career that he met his future wife, Diana Bowron Rediker, introduced to him by his fellow Bradley Arant associate, high school friend, and future law partner Wyatt Haskell. Bill and Diana were married in 1968.
The corporate world came knocking again in 1969, when Bill rejoined Rust Engineering as Chief Financial Officer in its Pittsburgh headquarters. Two years later, he was invited to join the executive office of Litton Industries (then Rust’s corporate parent) in Los Angeles as the director of its Industrial Systems division. After spending several years assembling and disassembling a vast collection of manufacturing businesses all over the United States, Bill sensed the end of the of the 1970s conglomerate era with rising interest rates and started to search for a way to return home to Alabama. That opportunity came in 1973 with a letter from Wyatt Haskell, inviting Bill to join in the formation of a new law firm in Birmingham then being organized by former Bradley Arant colleagues.
In various permutations, Haskell, Slaughter, and Young grew from a small four-man practice to become one of the largest law firms in Birmingham. As a founder and named partner of HS&Y, Bill pursued for four decades a sprawling, variegated and picaresque legal career- encompassing municipal finance, corporate law, securities, litigation, political lobbying, and oddball “only in Alabama” cases- that brought him into regular contact with many of Alabama’s leading political and business figures and a whole host of its most colorful characters as well. He became a feared and respected fixture of the Alabama bar, appearing often before the Supreme Court of Alabama, the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the US Supreme Court. Bill relished difficult or contentious cases, and enjoyed the spotlight of important public affairs- even when such matters (as they often did) made him a lightning rod for controversy. Supremely confident in his views, analysis, and knowledge of the law, Bill was a formidable and zealous advocate who earned the admiration and loyalty of his friends, while courting the fury and disdain, though always the grudging respect, of his foes. Of his many accomplishments in the legal field, Bill took the most pride in the success of his firm and the careers of the many capable lawyers and partners who passed through its doors, whom he was honored to mentor and continue to be active in Birmingham’s legal community today.
Highlights of Bill’s legal career include, depending on one’s perspective, his more than 30 years as outside legal counsel to Jefferson County. As municipal bond counsel, Bill and his partners helped finance much of the public infrastructure of Birmingham and the state of Alabama, ranging from the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center, much of the Jefferson County water and sewer system, and countless roads, schools and other public facilities. In 1982, Bill helped form the Alabama Heritage Trust Fund to hold revenues from offshore drilling leases sold by the State of Alabama in trust for the people of Alabama and directed the first $520 million bond issue issued by the Fund to support public capital projects around the state. He subsequently served as a trustee of its successor, the Alabama Trust Fund.
Committed to public service from his earliest days in the student government at Indian Springs, Bill was exceptionally active in charitable causes, local and community government, and state and national politics. He served as Chairman of the Board for Cooper Green Hospital and served on the board of South Highlands Hospital before its sale to UAB. Bill served on the Board of Governors of Indian Springs School for 25 years (from 1977 to 2002), including 15 years as Chairman, shepherding the school through an uncertain financial situation in the 1980s to a firm institutional foundation today. He was a generous financial supporter of both ISS and the University of Virginia, where he was a member of both the Raven Society and the UVA Law School Foundation. A devoted member of the Cathedral Church of the Advent for more than 40 years, Bill served as both a frequent usher and member of the vestry. He was an inaugural graduate of Leadership Alabama, as well as a graduate of Leadership Birmingham. Though he never swung a golf club in his life, he was a member of Mountain Brook Club for over 50 years.
In 1986, he was elected by the people of Mountain Brook to represent District 46 in the Alabama House of Representatives (one of fewer than 15 Republicans in the state legislature at the time). While in the Legislature, he served on the Judiciary, Ways and Means, and Education committees. Though hardly the model of a Deep South politician, Bill intrigued his colleagues in the Legislature and proved adept at building consensus across party, economic, racial and urban-rural lines. Despite his utter lack of interest in college football, hunting or fishing, and in spite of his incongruous penchant for 10-dollar words, Saville Row suits, and obscure English history, Bill was remarkably good at connecting with people from all walks of life. His colleagues in the legislature paid him the highest compliment by choosing him as the subject of the Alabama state Democratic Party Roast in 1989- an unheard-of honor for a freshman representative from the other party who ended up serving only one term. The Republican Party of Alabama likewise honored him by sending him as a delegate to the 1988 National Convention in New Orleans.
Like a good Scotch whisky, Bill was a man of strong and intense flavors. For many he was a taste they never acquired- a mixture of energy, ambition, penetrating intelligence, vast erudition, cultivation, pomposity and arrogance that could be off-putting. He had his detractors, to be sure- but the number, quality, and loyalty of his friends count far more in the balance. At his core he was a kind man, who loved animals and the outdoors, was devoted to his family and friends, and upheld a high standard for personal and public behavior. He was privileged to enjoy the friendship and confidence of the greatest people in our community and did his best to reflect their greatness in return. He imagined an ideal republic- honest, competent, and well-governed- and led an impactful life that did much to bring that vision closer to reality.
He is survived by his wife Diana, sister Carol Slaughter, sons Hanson Slaughter (Melissa) and Will Slaughter (Sarah), and grandchildren John, Virginia and Ada Slaughter. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations in his memory to Indian Springs School, The Cathedral Church of the Advent, or the Greater Birmingham Humane Society.
The family wishes to extend special thanks and appreciation to Mr. Tavares Jones and Mr. Antonio Haynes, who have provided indispensable help, support and companionship to Bill during his recent illness and over many years.
The visitation was held on January 20, 2024 at Cathedral Church of the Advent, Birmingham, AL, followed by a service; then followed by a reception at Mountain Brook Club.
