Higinbothom returned from West Virginia to his native home of Ellicott City and began providing quality funeral service for the community from several different locations on Main Street in "downtown" Ellicott City, until settling on a mid-block location at what is now 8231 Main Street. In the late 1940s after serving in World War II, John R. Slack served as a Patrolman for the then three-member Howard County Police Department. Higinbothom at the funeral home. In 1952, after serving in the Korean conflict, Mr. Slack utilized the GI Bill and graduated from the Cincinnati College of Embalming. He passed the State and National Board exams and received his funeral directors and embalmer licenses, continuing the association with Mr. Higinbothom. In 1954, after purchasing the building and property where the funeral home now stands, Mr. Higinbothom ceased operations on Main Street and began offering services out of the facility on what is currently known as Old Columbia Pike. This building was originally constructed in 1893 as a private residence. In October 1967, Mr. Slack and his wife Doris, purchased the business and property and continued the tradition of caring for the citizens of Ellicott City, Howard County and the surrounding area- first as Higinbothom-Slack Funeral Home and, since 1971, as The Slack Funeral Home. In 1974, Mr. Higinbothom died. Nine years later, Mr. Slack's unexpected death placed the funeral home under the ownership and direction of Doris T. Slack and her son, John Dallas Slack, CFSP, a 1978 Cum Laude graduate of the same Cincinnati College. Over the years, there have been ongoing renovations and remodelling which allow the Slack family to continue to maintain their leadership role providing funeral services to the local community. In 1991, The Slack Funeral Home, P.A. was selected as a premier Maryland funeral home, becoming a member of the International Order of the Golden Rule (OGR) a worldwide organization of leading private and family owned and operated funeral homes. The Slack Funeral Home, P.A. today remains the only facility in Howard County honored with membership with OGR. In the mid 1990s corporate owned funeral homes and cemeteries became a reality. The Slack family has chosen to resist the overtures of the large conglomerates and continues to be one of the select private, family owned funeral homes in the area. For more than eighty years we have been honored whenever a family selects us to serve their needs. The Slack family has seen Howard County change from a rural farm community to a major suburban area of Baltimore and Washington D.C. Today the Slack family continues to offer services designed to meet the needs of each individual family. Slack Funeral Home, P.A. remains ready to serve the community by providing a meaningful service of remembrance.
