Floyd Russell Sloan

Russ Sloan was born in Sioux City Iowa March 28, 1938 to the late Floyd and Marian Sloan. Russ and his parents lived in Los Angles during WWII and in 1945 they moved to Columbia, Missouri. Russ was Student Body President at Hickman High School and was 4 sport lettermen and named 3rd team All State Football as an End. Russ received a football scholarship from the University of Missouri in 1956. While at Missouri Russ received 1st team All-Conference honors and was the only unanimous All-Conference choice as selected by the coaches. Russ played on the Tigers 1960 Orange Bowl team and the 1960 All Star Hula Bowl played in Honolulu Hawaii. Before the end of his senior year Russ was drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers who immediately traded him to the New York Titans, now the Jets. He was also offered a baseball contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. An injury in training camp and the exhibition season ended his pro aspirations. He returned to Missouri to obtain his Master’s degree and begin his coaching career. Russ coached at Hickman High School, Mo, Higginsville H.S. Mo, Centralia H.S Mo, Carthage H.S Mo and Northeast Mo State University, now Truman State University. During his 3yr tenure as Head Coach at Northeast Mo State his Bulldogs garnered 3 MIAA Conference Championships. Three of his players went on to the NFL and two more in the World Football League. In 1972 Russ resigned from coaching to run for Congress in Missouri 6th district. Although unsuccessful he became the Director of Motor Vehicles and Licensing for the State of Missouri and received recognition for saving Missouri tax payers one million dollars a year! Russ returned to collegiate athletics as Athletic Director at Southeast Missouri State University. In 1979 Russ was named the Executive Director of the Bulldog Foundation at Fresno State University in Fresno, Ca. and one year later became the Athletic Director at Fresno State. Russ returned to the private sector 2 years later as Executive Director of the Fresno City and County Chamber of Commerce and for the next 20 years Russ headed three Chamber of Commerce, Fresno Ca, Muncie In. and St. Petersburg Fl. Russ was selected by the Chamber Executives to also serve as State President of the State’s Chamber Executives for the states of Indiana and Florida. After eleven years Russ retired from the St. Petersburg Chamber. Retirement didn’t last long as he headed up the New Business Assistance Center at Lake Sumter Community College. While doing that he also began writing a weekly column for the Leesburg, FL paper, The Daily Commercial. Russ retired from Lake Sumter Community College at 75 but continued to write his column for the paper until the age of 84 and spent his remaining years in Leesburg and Lady Lake Florida. Russ and his wife Peggy Fisher Sloan were married 66 years and they have 3 adult children Douglas, Matthew and Lori Sloan Quandt, 8 grandchildren Matthew Sloan, Jordan Sloan, Luke Sloan, Ryan Sloan, Allison Aubuchon, Christina Aubuchon, Jessica Aubuchon, Daniel Aubuchon and 3 great grandchildren, Nathan Clement, Sadie Pfister and Chevelle Pfister. Russ was an inductee of the University of Missouri Athletic Hall of Fame, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Northeast Missouri State Athletic Hall of Fame and the Truman State University Athletic Hall of Fame. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.

Floyd Russell Sloan

March 28, 1938 - July 17, 2026