WOOSTER Gladys Eileen Snow of Wooster passed away at age 95 on February 21, 2013. Known by her middle name, Eileen was born on February 4, 1918, in Waterloo, Iowa. She was the first of five daughters born to Percy and Gladys Jones. She was raised on Guernsey cattle farms that were managed by her father in Waterloo, Fond du lac, Wisconsin, and in Richland, Michigan, where she met her future husband, Robert L. Snow. Her family moved to Saginaw, Michigan, in 1935, where she graduated from Arthur Hill High School and St. Mary s School of Nursing, from which she received her education as an R.N. in 1939. She married Robert in 1940, and had her first two children (1941 and 1943) before moving to Circleville, Ohio, in 1943, where Robert was hired to manage a Guernsey farm. Less than two years later the Snow s moved to Bucyrus, Ohio, where their third child was born in 1946, and then moved again in 1947 to Celina, Ohio, where Robert managed a larger farm and where their fourth child was born in 1948. Slightly more than a year later, Robert accepted a position in farm management in Chesterland, Ohio, where their fifth child was born in 1950. Upon the sale of the farm by in 1952, the Snow s moved to Wooster where they raised their family and lived the remainder of their lives except for period of their retirement in Winterhaven, Florida.
Although Eileen worked as an obstetrics nurse after receiving her R.N. in 1939, her time was then consumed by birthing and mothering her five children until the family s move to Wooster in 1952. For the next 10 years she was employed by the Wayne County Health Department as a city health nurse. For most of the next 23 years she worked as the Director of Nursing at various local nursing homes the Gruter Nursing Home from 1962 to 1965, West View Manor from 1965 to 1971, and the Horn Nursing Homes, including Smithville-Western, from 1973 to June 30, 1983, when she retired. Between her stints as the Director of Nursing at Westview Manor and Horn s, Eileen worked briefly as a staff nurse for the Wooster Community Hospital. During her 31 years of nursing in the broader Wooster community, Eileen was involved in an array of health-related initiatives and programs. Some of the most noteworthy included: coordinated an improved nutrition program in Wooster City Schools; guided, with others, Wooster to becoming one of the Ohio cities with the highest percent of immunizations and pre-school physicals; served as adviser for Future Nurses Club at Wooster High; helped coordinate the first Candy Stripers program at Wooster Community Hospital; served on the boards of the Stark-Wayne TBC Society, the Wayne County Crippled Children s Society, and the Wayne Country Cancer Society; chaired the local Cancer Loan Cupboard and the Committee for Health Booths at the Wayne County Fair; selected as one of three R.N. s to coordinate the Northeastern Ohio Nursing Home Nurses, of which she was president for two years; selected as one of five nursing home directors by the Ohio Nurses Association for its first gerontology committee; initiated and helped coordinate the Home Health Agency for Wayne county; and served as a peer reviewer of other nursing homes for the Ohio Health Care Association. In addition to her commitment and service to community public health and geriatrics, Eileen was also an engaged community citizen, as well as an avid golfer. She was a longtime member of the Wooster Methodist Church, including a choir member for ten years; the chairperson for the first Wayne County Friendly Town program; a charter member of the Quota Club; officer in the Wooster High School Booster Club and Hot Stove League; president of the Otelia Club and Wooster Women s Club; a member of Easter Star and the Emblem Club; and a charter member of the first Wooster Women s Golf Association at Hillcrest. There were few things Eileen enjoyed more than playing golf, which she last did at age 93, playing 9 holes with one of her sons. A close second was following sports, particularly the Cleveland Browns, Cavaliers, and Indians. She also collected figurines of clowns, which she passed on to her grandchildren and great grandchildren, and earned from them the endearing nickname of Grandma Clown .
Eileen was preceded in death by a sister Bobbie, her parents Percy and Gladys Jones, her loving husband of 59 years, Robert L. Snow, and daughters-in-law Judith Gamble Snow and Linda Chapman Snow. She is survived by her five children (Roberta Kinder of Wooster, David of Newport Beach, CA, Randy of Canton, OH, Daniel of Springfield, OH, and Deborah of Montague, MA), their spouses and partners (Richard Kinder, Roberta Lessor, Leslie Snow, Ruth Snow, and Barbara White), three sisters (Mary Lou Richardson, Kay Sojka, and Georgia Brock), eighteen grandchildren (Laura Eggers of Beaufort, SC, Andrew Kinder of Akron, OH, Jennifer Kelly of Chicago, IL, Heather Snow of Los Angeles, CA, Margaret Snow of Portland, OR, Peter Snow of Portland, OR, Stephanie Werren of North Canton, Ohio, Robert Snow of Medina, OH, Matthew Snow of Richmond, VA, Chrissy Rice of North Canton, Ohio, Kelly Preston of Newnan, GA, Ryan Snow of Toledo, OH, Lindsay Cates of Dublin, OH, Brandon Snow of Columbus, OH, Molly McColgan of Austin, TX, Carrie McColgan-Branson of Windham, ME, Vana Beekman of Fulton, IL, and Paul Shafer of Sandusky, OH) and thirty-three great grandchildren. Eileen s life can be defined by the intersection of family, nursing, community, golfing, and her faith, but none was or is more important than her family and family members, all of whom will miss her dearly but find comfort in knowing that she will always be in their hearts and ever sitting on their shoulders as a continuous source of guidance and inspiration. Friends will be received at the McIntire, Bradham & Sleek Funeral Home, 216 E. Larwill St., Wooster on Sunday, March 10, 2013 from 3-5:00 p.m. A memorial service will be held on Monday, March 11, 2013 at 1:00 p.m. at the Wooster United Methodist Church, 243 N. Market St., Wooster with the Rev. David Wilcox officiating. Burial will be in the Wooster Cemetery.
Memorial Contributions
Service
Monday, March 11, 2013 at 1:00 p.m. at the Wooster United Methodist Church
Visitation
Sunday, March 10, 2013 from 3-5:00 p.m. at the funeral home
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