'Taps' Bugler Who Raised American Flag In Mahwah During WWII Dies

MAHWAH, NJ — As a boy during World War II, Richard "Dick" Slade raised the American flag on Mahwah's common every morning and lowered it every evening, and played "Taps" on his bugle, sources said.

He was also an "airplane spotter" with his mother, and until his death at his Massachusetts home last week, still enjoyed identifying planes from that area, his obituary published by Conte Funeral Home said.

Born in East Orange, Slade grew up in Mahwah, and attended high school in Ramsey, where he met his wife, Phila Staines Spade, whom he was married to for 66 years. He died suddenly at 89 years old, his obituary said.

An engineer "by disposition and by training," Slade worked for Nokia Bell Labs, when the company was known as Bell Telephone Laboratories. He spent two years in the Air Force and was active for several years in the North Andover Civil Defense.

Slade had a "great sense of humor" and a swath of interests, and would alternately introduce himself as "Mr. Fixit," for he fixed and restored all sorts of "stuff" at the North Andover Senior Center.