SNETHEN, Earl Arthur "Wimp"

SNETHEN, TENNERY, GARDNER, WILLIAMS, SPONSLER, DUNBAR, GIBSON, MYRICK, WARD, DALE, HINDS, REYNOLDS, BARTMESS, MOORE

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 6/22/2017 at 02:09:06

Obituary ~ Earl Arthur "Wimp" Snethen
August 13, 1930 ~ May 14, 2017

Lamoni Chronicle
Lamoni, Decatur County, Iowa

Earl Arthur Snethen, age 86, was born August 13, 1930, on a farm near Blythedale, Missouri in Harrison County and passed from this life May 14, 2017, at Lamoni Specialty Care, Lamoni, Iowa. He was the fourth of seven children born to Grant and Mary Ellen (Tennery) Snethen. He attended the Downey Country School and graduated from Lamoni High School. Although he never attended college, his education was enriched by his love of reading and his diverse interests throughout his life.

Earl was known to family and friends as "Wimp", not because of a timid or cowardly nature, but because as a child he so loved hamburgers that the family nicknamed him after Wimpy of the Popeye comics. He was united in marriage on March 19, 1950, to Lois Jean Gardner. To this union two children were born, Bruce Kent and Allyson Claire. The young family made their home on a farm south of Earl's parents until Lois Jean's death in February 1957. Earl and the children lived for several months with his parents while Earl drove a livestock truck for the Lamoni Sale Barn. On November 28, 1958, he married Luella Mae Williams and the family moved into Davis City, Iowa.

In 1959, Earl began working for Michigan-Wisconsin Pipeline (later called American Natural Resources) in Lamoni as a truck driver. After the Lamoni station closed, he accepted a promotion to Field Superintendent of the Lineville, Iowa station, continuing in that position until his retirement in 1992. He loved his job with the pipeline and cherished the friendships formed there, which continued throughout the remainder of his life. As a young adult, Earl enjoyed bowling and fishing. He loved playing any kind of cards, and was especially masterful at cribbage. He became an avid golfer and maintained a membership at the Lamoni Golf Course until his health no longer allowed him to play. He was an active member of the Davis City Masonic Lodge until it closed then transferred his membership to the Pleasanton Lodge until it closed as well, with a lifetime membership of over 50 years. He had a strong sense of civic duty and community pride, serving many terms on the Davis City Council.

Following a stroke in May of 2015, Earl moved into the Lamoni Specialty Care Facility where he stayed until his death.

He was preceded in death by his parents; wives, Lois Jean and Luella; brother, Dick Snethen; sister, Mary Virginia (Snethen) Sponsler; brothers-in-law, Max Dunbar, Max Gardner, James Sponsler, Tom Gibson, Glenn Myrick, Hugh Allen Ward, and Darrell Dale; sisters-in-law, Betty Hinds and Louva Dale.

Left to celebrate his memory are his children, son, Bruce and wife, Dana, of Altoona, Iowa and Allyson Reynolds and husband, Bill, of Decatur, Iowa; sisters, Margaret "Teeny" Gibson of Blythedale, Missouri, Norma Ward of Grandview, Missouri, and Ina Lou Myrick of Blue Springs, Missouri; brother, Tom Snethen and wife, Cher, of Endwell, New York, grandchildren, Justin Reynolds and wife, Jennifer, and children, Jackson and Joshua of Chandler, Arizona, Darcy Reynolds and daughter, Nele, of Sioux City, Iowa; Jared Snethen and wife, Kristyn, and children, Cameron and Calista of Ankeny, Iowa, Tyler Snethen and wife, Amber, and children, Tatum and Tucker, of Altoona Iowa; Lindsey Bartmess and husband, Chris, and children, Deliah, Kellan, and Finley of Altoona, Iowa; and special friend, Mary Lou Moore of Blythedale, Missouri; 35 nieces and nephews, scores of cousins and other relatives, and many, many friends.

Services were conducted at 10:30 a.m. May 19, 2017 at Lamoni Community of Christ Church, Lamoni, Iowa. Interment was made at Davis City I.O.O.F. Cemetery, Davis City, Iowa.

Slade - O'Donnell Funeral Home of Leon and Lamoni handled arrangements.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, June of 2017

Decatur Obituaries maintained by Constance McDaniel Hall.
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