Louie Harvey Sligh, 87, formerly of Fayetteville, PA, passed away peacefully on April 27, 2026, at Rittenhouse Village at Lehigh Valley, surrounded by his loving family. Born on Thanksgiving Day, 1938 in Birmingham, Alabama, he had been a resident of the Penn National Community from October 1995 until August 2020 when he and his wife, Carole, moved to be near their children. During a portion of the time they were living here, Mr. Sligh was employed as a behavior specialist and mobile therapist for Mountain Valley Center in addition to volunteering to deliver Meals on Wheels in Mont Alto and leading the community hiking club for 12 years. He enlisted in the Air Force at age 17 and served as an Aircraft Loadmaster with service in Germany, France, Florida and Vietnam. During these two enlistments, he completed high school with GED tests and began taking college courses. When he was discharged from the Air Force, he continued his education and went on to graduate from Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga in 1968 and the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 1971. While completing these studies he also served as Pastor of churches in South Pittsburg, Tennessee and in New Orleans. In 1970 he enlisted in the 20th Special Forces Group of the Louisiana Army National Guard and attended courses at Fort Benning, Georgia for training in the Officer Candidate School, Airborne School and infantry Officer Basic Course. After receiving the Master of Theology degree, he returned to active duty in the Air Force as a Chaplain with service at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota and Kunsan, Korea. During this period of service, he earned a Master of Arts degree in Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma. After his release from the Air Force in 1975 at the conclusion of the Vietnam War, he returned to service in the Army National Guard where he completed a total of 30 years of military service and achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. His full-time civilian employment included work as the Contractor industrial Relations Officer for the Mobile, Alabama District of the Army Corps of Engineers until 1984 when he transferred to the Air Force Civil Service at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio where he retired in January 1995.

He is survived by his wife, Carole Tardiff Sligh, born in West Bowdoin, Maine. They were married on April 1, 1986 in Christmas, Florida. He is also survived by three daughters, Debby (Dave) Bouton, and Michele Sligh of Orlando, Florida and Nancy Blankinship of Tennessee, five step-children, Kyle (Laine) Hardy, of Easton, PA, Kelly (Tony) Winkelbauer, of Coplay, PA, Bryan (Sarah) Hardy, of Wagram, NC, Pete (Jo Meng) Hardy, of Farmington, Maine and Chris Hardy, of Northampton, PA; his grandchildren, Jenny (Alex) Csordas, Matt (Jacki) Hardy, Jess (Brian) Konopka, Jaryd (Jessie) Winkelbauer, Samantha (Jim) Reeves, Megan, Emily and Maddie Hardy, Zoe (Kevin) Quinn-Kelly, Alex and Cassidy Hardy, Bryan Hardy, Jack (Samantha) Hardy, Tiffany (Matthew) Lerret, Jessica (Anthony) Cerino, Jacob (Maria) Bouton, Kimberlyn (Michael Paul) Anderson, and Aidan, Alice and Cash Blankinship; his wonderful 25 great-grandchildren; brother, Robert (Kelli) Sligh and sister, Vicki Reynolds. Louie was preceded in death by a grandson, Alex Sligh.

Services: Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, May 6th at 10:00 a.m. in First Baptist Church Allentown, 1808 N. 19th St., Allentown. Family and friends may gather from 9:00 a.m. until time of service in the church. Interment will take place at Fort Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Annville, PA.

Contributions: In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Toys for Tots in loving memory of Louie. Online condolences may be submitted below.