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In a codicil to his will written in August 1958, Mr. Slick
described his life's ambitions: “It has always
been my intention to work towards the building up of a great
center for human progress through scientific research at our
Southwest Research Center. I would like this effort to grow
to be as big as it soundly can, and at the same time to embrace
as wide a range of scientific research as is practical. Equally,
if not more important than size and scope, should be the efforts
to achieve the highest quality of accomplishment.”
Tragically, Tom Slick would not to live to see his dream through
to its completion. Like his father before him, Mr. Slick died
at age 46. On October 6, 1962, Mr. Slick and his pilot, Shelly
Sudderth of Dallas, were killed in the crash of their twin-engine
plane in the mountains of southwestern Montana. The plane, a
Beechcraft Bonanza 35, apparently disintegrated in flight some
40 miles south of Dillon, Mont. A few years earlier, Mr. Slick
had survived another plane crash in the jungles of Brazil while
on a diamond-hunting expedition.
“I know of no other man who accomplished so much in the
interest of his fellow man, in even a normal lifetime, as Tom
Slick did in an all too short one,” Dr. Vagtborg recalled.
“The Carnegies, Rockefellers and Welshs left foundations
to start philanthropic programs in the public interest after
they passed on. We, however, had the unique and deep pleasure
of having Tom, as a young man, with us year by year as we built
towards his vision. We shared his enthusiasm and were privileged
to work shoulder to shoulder with this modest man who cast himself
in the position of co-worker. The endowment he left the Foundation
is helping us to achieve the goals we set together.”
And so today, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research and
its sister organizations are living tributes to the great visionary,
Thomas Baker Slick Jr. We share his belief that “basic
research is the key to life's mysteries” and diligently
work to carry out his dream of building a “great center
for human progress through scientific research.” |
