GRAND VANSLAMBROOK

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November 11, 2025

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here.

Alum takes life lessons learned in high school into successful engineering, music and tennis careers, says his identity and values were cast and hardened at Notre Dame. 

Jim VanSlambrook, a proud graduate of Notre Dame High School, is the kind of person people often call a “Renaissance man” — though he’s far too humble to use the term himself. We’re happy to say it for him, however, because few alums embody such an endless appetite for learning, creating and living life to the fullest.

Now living in Indiana, VanSlambrook retired early from a demanding career in electronic engineering and testing — only to stay just as busy if not more so. He’s a musician who plays six instruments, a devoted family man guided by his faith, and a professional tennis umpire who has officiated at Grand Slam events, including the U.S. Open.

And through it all, he’s never forgotten his roots on Kelly Road in Harper Woods — four formative years that helped set the stage for at least three remarkable careers for this 1966 alum.

It's all about the band

For VanSlambrook, much of who he is today began in the band room at Notre Dame High School, under the direction of longtime band leader, the late Larry Egan.

Larry Egan was my band director from the fifth grade at St. Veronica grade school through Notre Dame,” VanSlambrook said. “He also gave me private lessons on the trumpet during the summers after grades 5-8."

In 1962, Egan formed and led the NDHS Alumni Big Band (in the style of Glenn Miller), and tapped VanSlambrook and his older brothers Bob (trumpet) and Chuck (piano) to play in the band that performed for NDHS homecoming and prom dances as well as some wedding receptions. 

"Larry was a great band leader and a great teacher who made playing in his bands a lot of fun," he said. "And I still have a 33 RPM LP recording of his NDHS Concert Band from 1965.”

Lots of gigs

And VanSlambrook hasn’t stopped playing since — in fact, he’s expanded significantly beyond those trumpet lessons he once took in Harper Woods. But now, besides the trumpet, he's mastered the tenor sax, trombone, flute, flugelhorn and the vibes (xylophone).

And he plays them often. Now more than halfway through a packed 2025 schedule, VanSlambrook performs across Indiana under the name “Slammer Jazz,” offering a repertoire that fits every occasion, from wedding days to corporate conventions.

“I had 75 gigs on my Slammer Jazz 2025 calendar,” he said. “Most of them are one-hour shows for the residents at various senior living communities, private parties, wedding receptions, churches, funerals, music festivals and corporate conventions.”

But his path from Michigan to Indiana began with another passion: engineering. After graduating from the University of Detroit in 1971 with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering, VanSlambrook launched a 30-year career with Hewlett-Packard.

“I was a sales engineer for HP electronic test systems for 30 years,” he said. “I started as a trainee in Chicago, where I met my beautiful wife, Holly, and was transferred to Dayton for one year and then to Pittsburgh for 10 years. HP eventually transferred me to Indianapolis in 1983 to be their district sales manager. I retired in 2002 at the age of 54.”

Professional umpire

But retirement didn’t mean slowing down. A lifelong recreational tennis player, VanSlambrook followed another unexpected path after reading a leaflet at his local tennis club.

“When I retired from my day job at HP, I saw a recruiting flyer at my club for new tennis officials,” he said. “I tried it and enjoyed it immensely, so I worked my way up from juniors to the college and pro tennis circuits, working 15 years at the U.S. Open, Cincinnati, Miami and Indian Wells ATP/WTA events until they replaced all the line umpires and judges with computers (Hawk-Eye) during the pandemic."

Now he focuses on college tennis — which he says still can be a very challenging environment — mainly at Purdue, Notre Dame, Louisville and at the post-season Horizon League and NCAA Championship tournaments.

Egan, Bryson and Vachon

For all his achievements, VanSlambrook remains quick to credit his alma mater for shaping his values, his identity, and the direction of his adult life.

“I really established my identity at NDHS through the various bands I was in, and the Catholic values and ND school spirit definitely shaped my future,” he said. “Among my favorite teachers there were Larry Egan, Father Bryson and Conrad Vachon. I'm really looking forward to coming back to Michigan in June and attending our 60th Class of 1966 reunion.”

Even with a calendar as packed as his, VanSlambrook won't miss a chance to reconnect with his high school classmates near the place where it all began — and to honor the lessons, friendships and music that set him on such an interesting lifelong path.

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

About Notre Dame Preparatory School
"At Notre Dame Prep, we inspire our students to become the best versions of themselves. We challenge them through an experience of academic excellence, focused on active, project-based learning. We invite them to explore a world of opportunities beyond the classroom. We guide them as they grow in spirituality within a community strong in its Catholic and Marist identity."

Notre Dame Preparatory School is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School's upper school enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame Prep's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDP is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.