The Sleight Family

Justin ‘43 and Marjorie Wardell ’43 Sleight and his brother, the late Norman ’40 and the late Alethea Sleight established the funding and guiding principles for the Sleight Servant Leadership Program.  Additionally, the family established the Endowed Professorship of Leadership Studies and started a Sleight Scholarship at Albion College.

Both Justin and Norman have a long history of dedication and service to their communities.  Justin, an ophthalmologist began his career in Lansing.  He served for many years as an associate professor and clinical professor with Michigan State University College of Human Medicine department of surgery and was on the staffs of Sparrow Hospital, St. Lawrence Hospital, and Ingham County Medical Hospital.  He has served in numerous capacities in his church, Lansing Central United Methodist Church,  and as West Michigan Conference missionary spent a year working at the Bo Eye Clinic in Sierra Leone.  He was elected to the Albion College Board of Trustees as a representative of the West Michigan Conference and currently serves as an Honorary Trustee.

Justin and Marjorie have four children, Kenneth ’69, Barbara, Carolyn, and Stephen. 

After graduating from Albion College, and studying nuclear chemistry at Iowa State University, Norman pursued a career as a research chemist for the U.S. government’s Manhattan Project.  He began a career in insurance as a State Farm Insurance agent in 1951.  He was elected regional vice president (Ohio) in 1961 and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1985.

Norman served the Newark (OH) Rotary Club as president and in other capacities, was president of the board for the Licking County Memorial Hospital and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Mid-Ohio Health Planning Foundation.

Additionally, Norman volunteered his time with the United Way, YMCA, and the Red Cross, as well as serving as a ruling elder for the Second Presbyterian Church in Newark. 

Norman and his wife Alethea had two children, the late Douglas ’65 and Susanne.  Norman passed away in May of 2005, shortly after the Sleight Servant Leadership Program was established in its current form.