Audrey Grace Slagle

Audrey Grace (Peck) Slagle, 95, a resident of Plush Mills, Wallingford, formerly of Ridley Park, passed away on Friday, July 17, 2026.

Born September 1, 1930 in Confluence PA, Audrey was the daughter of the late John Daniel Peck and Mary (Fike) Peck. She grew up on Maplehurst Farm in Fort Hill, PA, where she learned to work hard and face adversity with strength and perseverance. Audrey was only 10 years old when her mother passed away. Her beloved Aunt Ollie (Olive Peck) became her second mom, raising her and her siblings, and helping to run the farm. Audrey became proficient at cooking for a crowd, helping her aunt prepare large meals for hungry farmhands. This skill would benefit her own family in the years to come when she would, in her words, “cook for an army.”

In 1948, Audrey graduated from Salisbury High School in Somerset County and continued her education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. After graduating in 1952 with a B.S. in Music and a teaching certificate, she traveled to one-room schoolhouses throughout Somerset County for three years, teaching elementary music.

In 1954, Audrey met and married the love of her life, John “Jack” Slagle, and a wonderful 67-year adventure began. Inspired by her husband’s devotion to the Catholic Church, Audrey converted to Catholicism. She embraced the beliefs and principles of her new faith, instilled them in her children, and was guided by them until the day she died. She and John were active members of St. Rose of Lima Parish in Eddystone for over 60 years.

Audrey and John lived in Scottsdale, AZ and Boston, MA before settling in Ridley Park, PA in 1960. Busy as she was with six children, Audrey never let the cookie tins go empty, always keeping them filled with countless varieties of homemade delights. Her kitchen was a magical place at Christmas time; from it, hundreds of delicious goodies emerged, enjoyed by her family, teachers, neighbors, clergy, friends, and many others with whom she shared them. Audrey was an accomplished seamstress, making beautiful dresses for her daughters for special occasions throughout the years. When her youngest child was of school age in the early 70’s, Audrey took on new roles. She worked as a substitute teacher, briefly in Interboro School District and then for 18 years in Ridley School District. She became the choir director and organist at St. Rose of Lima, and a funeral organist at other local churches. She taught baking at Ridley Community Adult School and sang in the Ridley Community Chorus. In 2000, Audrey left her employment at St. Rose’s and became the organist at St. Katherine Drexel Parish in Chester, where she worked for 14 years until she retired at age 84.

Audrey and John traveled extensively throughout the United States and Europe, as well as to the Holy Land, New Zealand, China, Ireland, Canada, and their favorite Caribbean destination, St. Maarten. Both were also fond of gardening. Their flower gardens beautified their home and the yield from their vegetable garden and fruit trees kept Audrey busy every summer canning vegetables and fruits and making pickles and jams. She lived life to the fullest, using her God-given gifts and talents, but what Audrey treasured most was time spent with her family. Her children were her pride and joy, and that joy increased over the years as sons- and daughters-in-law joined the Slagle clan, then grandchildren, their spouses, and finally great-grandchildren.

Audrey was predeceased by her husband, her parents, and her siblings Anna, Margaret, and John L . Surviving, and missing her greatly, are her children: Susan, her husband David, son Geoffrey and his wife Lorena; John and his wife Kim; Mary, her husband Stephen, sons Andrew, his wife Casey, and their children Joel, Emma, and Leighton, Christopher, his wife Kelly, and their children Jack and Race, and James, his wife Ashley, and their children Rae and Graham; daughter Julie, her husband William, daughters Erica, her husband Matthew, and their children James and Quinn, Katie and her partner Lex, and Madeleine; James, his wife Lorena, and his daughter Mary Catherine; Paul, his wife Patricia, daughter Samantha, and son Paul Joseph, Jr. (PJ) and his wife Alexis; sister-in-law LaRue Peck; and many nieces and nephews and their families.

Visitation will be from 10:00 – 11:15 Friday, July 24, 2026 at St. Rose of Lima Church, 1901 Chester Pike, Eddystone PA 19022, followed by a Funeral Mass at 11 a.m. Interment will be at S.S. Peter and Paul Cemetery.   Audrey's Funeral Mass will livestreamed on our Funeral Home's Facebook Page - the stream will begin a few moments before Mass is scheduled to begin.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to St. Rose of Lima Parish or the Tunnel to Towers Foundation (https://t2t.org/).