Alvin Sloan, ex-mayor, dies at 96

Former washington official called 'true community servant.'

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

BY LYNN OLANOFF

The Express-Times

WASHINGTON | Former Mayor Alvin Sloan, who was still active in the community well into his 90s, has died. He was 96.

Mayor Marianne Van Deursen said he died of natural causes in his Grand Avenue home Saturday.

"He was a true community servant," said Van Deursen, a close friend. "His legacy will go on."

Sloan was Washington's youngest mayor. He started as the borough's mayor in 1936 and served through the following year. He was also a borough councilman for many years.

The Washington Emergency Squad started under his mayoral tenure, and he's credited with being a major fundraiser for the group through this decade. He served as chairman of the squad's fundraising arm, The Vernon Oakes Society, through 2003.

When he stepped down from the society, both the borough and Washington Township threw him a surprise dinner that 160 people attended. Sloan was honored with a joint proclamation thanking him for his decades of service to the communities and given a key to the borough. The squad made him an honorary charter member.

"He was a huge supporter of the emergency squad. He helped finance their building," Van Deursen said.

Sloan was the former owner of the Washington Theatre and at one point owned most of the movie theaters in Warren, Hunterdon and Sussex counties.