George Slaton
(1907 – 1975)

George Henri Slaton at the age of 23 became the manager of the former Michigan welterweight champion, Paul Thurman. As Slaton’s prominence grew, he trained, as a volunteer, many young, aspiring boxers for the Golden Gloves and other amateur boxing tournaments at the Brewster Recreation Center in Detroit. Among those young boxers was heavyweight champion, Joe Louis. Working with Slaton, Louis made it to the final round of the National Golden Gloves Tournament in Boston in 1933. The following year Louis won the Amateur Athletic Union national light-heavyweight championship. Ultimately his amateur record was 50 victories in 54 bouts.

Slaton worked at Detroit’s Department of Public Work for more than 28 years.

Slaton died in 1975 and is buried in Section A2, Lot 48.