RORY KENT SLOCUM, 59, of Page, Ariz.,

died Oct. 5, 2007, in the arms of his family at his mother’s home in Green Valley.

Rory was born in 1948, the first son of Ned G. Slocum and Jean (Johnson) Spencer. He grew up and attended schools in Phillips, Wis. His career began in the Chicago area in the hospitality industry. He was General Manager of several prominent hotels including the Tremont in Chicago and the Bitter End Yachting Club in the British Virgin Islands.

In the 1970s his design work for the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, D.C. was featured in Architectural Digest magazine. Later, Rory was a managing partner in both Billy’s Diner and the Ramada Inn Plaza Hotel in Phoenix.

In 1992, he moved his home to Page, on the shores of Lake Powell. In Page, he developed several different dining concepts and will be remembered most for his years at Strombolli’s Italian Restaurant. He also catered many family weddings and prepared lunches for a local school. Just before his battle with pancreatic cancer, Rory was able to combine his love of the high Arizona desert and his passion for travel. He ended his career as a Flight Service Instructor for Northwest Airlines.

Rory was a study in contrasts. He was a gracious host to Heads of State, Hollywood royalty, and even a Pope. Always a steadfast patron of the down and out, Rory could never say “No.” He enjoyed operas and “Haute Cuisine” in cities around the world. Yet, he was just as comfortable partaking in a pot of mutton stew in a ritual hogan at some remote corner of the Navajo Nation, where he was often an honored guest.

Having studied the Navajo culture and language, Rory was accepted as family and often traveled by jeep and horseback throughout the Reservation to help with managing migrating livestock. He filled his spare time with his three show dogs, training with his Arabian horse, boating on Lake Powell, or globetrotting to visit his longtime friends in Rio, Paris, London, and Taipei.

He is survived by his mother Jean Spencer of Green Valley; daughter Reise of Chicago, Ill.; brothers Scott of Green Valley, Ned of Denver, Colo., Kevin of Scottsdale, and Shawn of Brodhead, Wis.; sisters Debra Dicke of Wheaton, Ill. and Shannon Lopez of Defiance, Ohio. Rory was a beloved uncle to 11 nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father Ned G. Slocum.

Rory’s spirit was scattered to the winds high among the Mesas of Monument Valley in a private ceremony attended by close family. There will be a joyous celebration of Rory’s life at a later date.

We miss him already.