Dale Snow

Dale Snow

1932 - 2022

On July 2, 2022, Dale Snow, 89, died peacefully at home in Idaho Springs, Colorado, with his family around him. He had a long and productive life, and we will miss his wit and strength terribly.

Dale was born August 11, 1932, in Stahl, Missouri, to Dillard and Oletha Snow. He was the third of five children, and, after the childhood death of his little brother Earl, was, for a long time, the youngest in the family until his sister, Beverly, arrived when he was 12.

The Snows were devout members of the Church of Christ, and the Great Depression had hit them hard. In the early 1940’s, Dillard got a line on a job in San Diego to work at the WWII shipyards, so the family packed up their car to move west for work. Dale recalled that the car was in terrible shape; he and his brothers Harold and Dean could see the road through the holes in the floorboard as they drove west. When Dillard stopped for repairs and to visit his sister, Phoebe, in Hutchinson, Kansas, the family ended up settling there instead of going on to California. Dale always thought part of the reason they wound up in Hutchinson was because he and his brothers had complained so much between Missouri and Kansas.

Dillard got a job with the railroad instead of the shipyards and Dale and his brothers also worked at the railroad in their youth. Dale went through secondary school and two years of junior college in Hutchinson. In 1953, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, three days before Eisenhower declared peace in Korea. He was trained by the Army as an engineer and mechanic, and spent much of his tour in Japan.

Upon his discharge from the army, Dale worked at different jobs, and then attended Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. It was there, while he was wrapping up his graduate work in Geology, that he met Carolyn Dyer, who would become his wife in 1962. The pair married in December in Fruita, Colorado, where Carolyn worked as an art teacher.

Dale was, as of yet, unemployed (he was told repeatedly that, with a Master's degree, he was overqualified for the jobs he applied for). So right after the wedding he went to Denver to pound the pavement for a job. He was finally hired by the Colorado State Highway Department (now the Colorado Department of Transportation or CDOT) to work on the construction of Interstate 70 in eastern Colorado.

The couple relocated to Burlington, Colorado, and both their children were born there (his daughter, Ravay, in 1964, and his son, Jeff, in 1966). In 1968, Dale was transferred to the mountains to work on what was then called the Straight Creek Tunnel, but which later became the Eisenhower Tunnel. In later life, he would joke that he had built the Eisenhower Tunnel all by himself with a pickaxe and a shovel.

The couple moved to Idaho Springs, Colorado, where they bought a house and raised the family. Over the course of that time, Dale became a Professional Engineer (his Master’s in Geology did not translate to Civil Engineering, so, to be eligible for advancement, he studied for and took the PE test persistently and repeatedly until he passed it.).

After the completion of the Eisenhower Tunnel, Dale continued working for CDOT in various capacities.In 1984, he was transferred to the Pueblo region as the CDOT District Engineer there, and he worked in Pueblo on a number of construction projects until his retirement from CDOT in 1994.

After retirement from CDOT, Dale and Carolyn returned to Idaho Springs. Dale did some consulting for FEMA at various disaster sites, and the couple travelled. They were active members in the United Church of Idaho Springs, and Dale helped remodel and outfit the local United Center as a concert venue. Dale and Carolyn also travelled building homes for Habitat for Humanity, in places as diverse as Honduras and Texas. After retirement, Dale joined the local chapter of the Masons and ascended to the rank of Worshipful Master. He particularly enjoyed helping young people and valued the Masons' scholarship program.

Dale could build or repair anything. In high school, he excelled at woodworking, and made furniture that is still in the family home. When his children were young, instead of buying bicycles, he went to the dump, got old bike frames and made bicycles. He built and wired a garage, entirely from scratch, and for much of his life, he was the family car mechanic (until computer chips became popular, that is). He remodeled the family home at several points, adding decks, enclosing carports, and designing and building circular staircases. The home is also filled with some of his hand carved birdhouses, games, and carvings. His skills meant that Dale also became a one-man artist support for Carolyn and the kids, all of whom were artists, matting and framing their artwork.

He was truly the rock of the family.

Dale is survived by his wife of 59 years, Carolyn Snow, his daughter, Ravay Snow-Renner and her husband, Jon Renner, his son, Jeff Snow and his wife, Meg Snow, his sister, Beverly Cornejo, and many beloved nieces and nephews.

A celebration of this great man’s life will be held at 11 AM on Saturday, August 13, 2022, two days after what would have been his 90th birthday. It will be held at the United Church of Idaho Springs, 1410 Colorado Boulevard, Idaho Springs, CO.We will be sharing reminiscences about Dale. If you would like to attend the service, please email ravay@comcast.net so we can plan accordingly.

In lieu of flowers, we ask that donations be made to the United Church of Idaho Springs, PO Box 3070, Idaho Springs, CO 80452.