Celebration of life scheduled for late steward George Slender

CYPRESS, Calif. – A celebration of life will be held Sept. 30 at Los Alamitos for California steward George Slender, who died after an illness on Aug. 26 in Rancho Santa Fe., Calif.

Slender was 85 and had been retired from his position as a steward since late 2015.

A native of Santa Rosa, Calif., Slender was an accomplished athlete in his youth, attending the University of Oregon on a football scholarship. He later played minor league baseball. Slender served in the Army after being drafted. He was discharged in 1958 and began to train horses and work on the gate crew.

In the following years, Slender worked as a placing judge, paddock judge, and horse identifier, and began working as a steward in 1972. He worked throughout the state officiating at Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred meetings.

Slender worked on the Southern California Thoroughbred circuit in the 2000s and spent some of the final years of his career as a steward at Los Alamitos for the lower-level Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse meetings.

In 2015, Slender was presented with the Pete Pedersen Award by the Racing Officials Accreditation Program for his contribution to Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing. At times in the 1990s and early 2000s, Slender worked alongside the late Pedersen, one of the most widely-respected officials in American racing.

Slender is survived by his wife, Verna, two brothers, and three sons.

The celebration of life will be held in the Los Alamitos Finish Line Room at 11 a.m. on Sept. 30. Further information is available at GeorgeSlender.com.