Ursula Lukas Slavick

PORTLAND – Ursula Lukas Slavick, whose capacious love extended far and wide and included many hundreds of Haitian children, passed away on Nov. 8, 2024, surrounded by family and friends.

Her family included parents Adam and Gerda Lukas; brothers Walter (Gisela) and Wolfgang (Doris) and sister, Susanne (Willi) Gerhards, all deceased; her husband, Bill; children Susanne (Andrew Ellis Johnson), Elisabeth (Alceu Hiltner Filho), Sarah (Kevin Rainey), Stephen (Lorena Carnero de Slavick), Madeleine (Ian Saville), John Henry (deceased), and elin o’Hara (David Richardson); grandchildren Ian, André Lucas (Claudia Freire), Lara (Evan Kaufman), Itala (Marco Aurélio Carmel), Leon (Lavinia Lopez), Cole, Lorena (Vince Hamill), Lily, Guthrie, and Harper Ursula; great-granddaughter Isadora; and aunt, Doris Mundi; cousin, Rolf-Dieter Klein and family.

A beloved long-time German and French teacher at Deering High School, Ursula also served an appreciated term as union president of the Portland Teachers’ Association and as a Maine Education Association director. She coordinated Portland’s Sister City Shinigawa Teaching Program, guided student tours to Europe, advised the German Club, and coached the debate team.

Ursula was a mother to many beyond her family. She co-founded and regularly staffed the weekly food pantry at Sacred Heart-Saint Dominic Church, and befriended, assisted, and took in immigrants, refugees, exchange students, and people in need.

She was the foremost fundraiser for the Portland Haiti Project which built Christ the King School in Morne Rouge, Haiti, pays teachers’ salaries, and provides students a daily bowl of rice and beans. She greatly enjoyed mingling with the schoolchildren.

An oblate of Grüssau Benedictine Abbey, Wimpfen, Germany, Ursula was a daily communicant, and lector in two Portland parishes. A member of Pax Christi Maine, she helped fill cargo containers of humanitarian aid to Nicaragua and joined in actions for social justice and human rights – most recently for Palestinians. She served on the Peace Action Maine board.

Ursula was witty with a sassy sense of humor, even during recent hospitalizations. She was an avid reader who sometimes shared her own poems. An experienced world traveler, she was an enthusiast for word games (without ever wanting to keep score), and cooked and sewed with love. She took great pleasure in singing, sharing stories, laughter, and swimming in Sebago Lake, where she often relaxed in a hammock among hemlock, birch and pine.

Ursula once said, “At my funeral, I want you to remember: ‘bloom where you are planted, and preach the gospel at all times, if necessary use words.’”

A requiem Mass will be celebrated Nov. 23 at 11 a.m. at St. Pius X Church, 492 Ocean Ave., Portland (live-streamed at: https://ladyofhopemaine.org). A reception and shared memories will follow at Italian Heritage Center, 40 Westland Ave., Portland (behind Shaw’s Westgate).

In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes contributions to the Haiti project, checks payable to:

Susanne Slavick

14 Swan Dr.

Pittsburgh, PA 15237

with ‘For Haiti in memory of Ursula Slavick’ on the memo line, and/or to the

‘SH/SD Food Pantry’

307 Congress St.

Portland, ME 04101

(https://portlandcatholic.org/sh-sd-food-pantry).