Obituary of Alvin Sloan

Former Washington, New Jersey, Mayor Alvin F. Sloan died peacefully at home on February 16, 2008 of natural causes. He was 96. Although he spent his childhood years in Montclair, New Jersey, he was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1911, to Harold S. Sloan, and Bertha Florey Sloan, who was born and raised in Washington where her father managed the Cornish Organ and later Florey Bros. Piano Factory. Mr. Sloan's local political career began in 1933, when at the age of 22, he was elected a Warren County Justice of the Peace. The following year, he became a Washington councilman, and in 1935, elected mayor in the general election. At the time, he may have been the youngest mayor in the United States. During his tenure as mayor the creation of an ‘emergency squad,' within the fire department, was accomplished. The Washington Emergency Squad became one of the first small-town volunteer squads in the country. Also, when he was mayor, Washington bought its first police squad-car, as well as its first snow plow. The young mayor rode beside the driver to clear the streets after a blizzard. He was predeceased by his first wife, Helen Ryan of Washington. They had married in 1929 and were married for 57 years. When his two-year term of mayor ended, his business career took precedence over his political one and he never ran for office again. But for the next seventy years he closely followed the workings of Washington's various mayors and councils, and was a driving force behind the Washington becoming a Council-Manager form of government in 1967. Sloan began managing the newly built Washington Theatre in 1928, and then managed the Rialto Theatre in Ridgefield Park, and the Oxford Theatre in Little Falls. By 1932, he was back in Washington managing another new theatre – The St. Cloud – which was built behind the St. Cloud Hotel. During the 1930's Sloan and his business partner, Clifford Smith, built an empire of fourteen theatres in Warren, Sussex, and Hunterdon Counties – the St. Cloud Amusement Corp. To advertise the motion pictures showing in the theatres, Sloan started the "Theatrical and Shopping Guide" weekly paper, which was printed in Belvidere and distributed in the three counties for free. As a further incentive to bring customers to the business sections of towns, as well as the theatres, the local merchants of Belvidere, Sussex, Flemington, and Clinton would donate radios, refrigerators, and even automobiles to be won by patrons by a raffle between movies on a particular night. Al Sloan had no interest in the movies themselves; he did not know one actor or actress from another. But the movies he ran were in minute focus, running on the latest equipment. Sloan did not like the smell of cooking popcorn, so when he managed the theatres, popcorn was not served. In 1946, the St. Cloud Amusement Corp. leased the running of the theatres it had incorporated, and eventually purchased the real estate involved with those theatres. Sloan and Smith sold the entire enterprise in 1973. Meanwhile, Al Sloan continued to bring entertainment to people by organizing a group of varied musicians who called themselves, "The Gruesome Threesome." For many years, they played dances on Saturday at the Washington Elks. Sloan became a business agent for Local 379, American Federation of Musicians, and proudly a life member of the local. For many years, Sloan played a Hammond Organ on Friday evenings in the Greenwich Inn in Stewartsville. In the 1960's, Al Sloan was appointed chairman of the Washington Parking Authority; the parking lots the authority created are still used every day in the Borough. He also served as grand jury foreman investigating pollution in Warren County, and spearheaded the move to relocate Washington's municipal library to its present location. In the 1970's, Sloan worked with local physicians, and other concerned citizens, to facilitate the construction of the Warren Hills Family Health Center in Washington. He had served as a trustee of Warren Hospital in prior years. One of his most beloved accomplishments was the founding of the "Vernon Oakes Society," in the 1980's, whose sole purpose is to help fund the Washington Emergency Squad. Sloan thought it tragic to see volunteer squad members having to stop traffic on Washington Avenue to collect quarters to be used to purchase necessary, but costly, life-saving equipment. He realized if one hundred Washington citizens would contribute $100 each year, the squad would realize $10,000 per annum. With the enthusiasm of Washington's citizens, the "Vernon Oakes Society" – named for the former fire chief who first brought the idea of an emergency squad to Mayor Sloan in 1936 – now has over 250 members, including civic organizations. Survivors: He is survived by his second wife, the former Susan Lisowski; a daughter Bertha Sloan Newton of Powell, Wyoming, and two grandchildren. Services: Arrangements were handled by the DeVoe Funeral Service, 136 W. Washington Ave., Washington, NJ. Online condolences may be expressed at www.devoefuneral.com.