Terrence M. Slaven, known to everyone as Terry, died on October 28. A loving husband, father and grandfather, Terry practiced law for 42 years in Arizona, where he leaves many friends who remember him for his intellect, wit and kind heart.

Terry was born in Buffalo, N.Y. on July 26, 1949, the fourth and youngest child of Edith (Ludwig) and Ralph Slaven, and grew up in Amherst, N.Y. After graduating from Amherst Central High School, he received an A.B. in 1971 from St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, edited the student newspaper, and was senior class president. He attended the University of Virginia as a Thomas Jefferson Foundation Fellow, receiving an M.A. in History in 1972, and received a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1977.

Terry saw Phoenix as a land of opportunity where, in contrast to his upstate New York upbringing, he would never again have to shovel snow. In 1977 he joined the firm Lewis & Roca, where he became a partner. He left private practice to join Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where he served as general counsel (1990-2003) and interim president and CEO (1997-1998), playing an important leadership role in the growth of PCH from a fledgling institution operating on two floors of the former Good Samaritan building to its current free-standing campus on Thomas Road. He later served as general counsel of Sun Health (2005-2008), and following Sun Health’s merger with Banner Health, was senior associate general counsel at Banner from 2009 until he retired in 2019. Terry was a longtime member of the Arizona Society of Healthcare Attorneys. A man of wide-ranging musical taste, Terry served on the board of the Phoenix Bach Choir (now the Phoenix Chorale). He was proud of his role advising on the creation of KidsCare, which since its establishment in 1998 has provided health insurance to hundreds of thousands of Arizona children.

Family was the most important thing to Terry, and he was proud above all of his three sons. He met the love of his life, Christine Coffey, in 1981. They married in 1982 and raised their family in North Central Phoenix. Terry was a voracious reader and a decadeslong fan and former season ticket holder of the Suns and Diamondbacks. He had many great memories of going to games with his family, including Game 7 of the 2001 World Series. A loving and nurturing dad, he supported his sons in their many pursuits and often adopted their interests. Later in life he enjoyed extensive travels with Chris, including visiting their sons and grandson in the many places around the world where they lived. From 2006 to 2019, he and Chris lived part-time in Bisbee, where they made many close friends. Following Terry’s retirement in 2019, they moved with their cherished Labradors to Wakefield in Chris’s native Rhode Island, where they enjoyed life as “country mice” in small-town New England, near extended family.

Terry battled idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and remained well, continuing to travel, until his final months. He passed away peacefully with his wife and three sons by his side. Terry was preceded in death by his parents and by his siblings, Neil Slaven, Joan Speca and Mary Slaven. He is survived by his wife of nearly 42 years, Chris Coffey, his sons Mike (Kirsten), Will and Joe, his grandson Euan, brothers- and sisters-in-law and numerous nieces and nephews. A celebration of life will be held at Avery-Storti Funeral Home in South Kingstown, R.I. on Saturday, December 21 at 10:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Terry’s memory to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org) or Animal Rescue Rhode Island (www.animalrescueri.org)