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Gene Snowden

Gene Snowden, 91, of Huntington, IN, died Tuesday, June 11, 2019, at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, IN.

Mr. Snowden was a 1946 graduate of Huntington High School and attended Olivet Nazarene University.   He was a lifelong public servant both in Huntington County and in the State of Indiana. At 87 years old, Mr. Snowden continued to work for Ness Bros. Real Estate and Auction Co., and was an avid fund-raiser for several area charities.  He was a lifelong member of the Huntington First Church of the Nazarene in Huntington and played in the Nazarene band from 1942 until it ceased in 2011. He was also a past board member of the church.

Mr. Snowden worked 42 years in insurance and 16 years in real estate.  He was elected to Huntington County Council in 1960.  Fro 1962 to 1964 he was a member of the Indiana House of Representatives. He then served in the Indiana Senate for 20 years, from 1964 to 1983.  In early 2015, the state Republican Party named him the “Outstanding Republican in Huntington County.” Gov. Bob Orr appointed him head of the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency  from 1983 to 1988.  He was Huntington County Auditor from 1988 to 1992, then Huntington mayor from 1992 to 1996.

Olivet Nazarene University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Law in 1989. He promoted the building of Lake Sno-Tip, named in part for him, and served on the board at Huntington University.  He was the Huntington County torchbearer for the Indiana Bicentennial in 2016.

Mr. Snowden was chosen Chief of the Flint Springs Tribe in 2003 and was involved with the Police Athletic League, Salvation Army, Huntington County Historical Society, the Boy Scouts, Gideons International, Huntington County Leadership, Boys & Girls Club, Historic Forks of the Wabash, Pathfinder Services, Bippus Lions Club, United Way, Huntington County Chamber of Commerce and Christian Literature for Africa. He also founded the Huntington Optimist Club in 1960 and was its first president. U.S.-224 between Huntington and I-69 is known as the “Gene Snowden Highway”.

He was born April 7, 1928, in Huntington to Benjamin and Anna Orr Snowden.  He married Carol Replogle on Aug. 26, 1949, and she survives.  

Additional survivors are four daughters, Connie (Jan) Reahm, of Muskegon, MI; Beverly (David) Mimms, of Pasadena, CA; Barbara Snowden, of Bradley, IL; and Jodi Snowden, of Huntington; two brothers, Ned (Mary) Snowden, of Muncie, and Jerry (Sharon) Snowden, of Elkhart; six grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

Calling is Monday, June 17, 2019, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at First Church of the Nazarene, 1555 Flaxmill Rd., Huntington, IN, 46750. Additional calling will be held on Tuesday, June 18, 2019, from 10 a.m. to 11a.m. at the church. A funeral service will be held immediately following at 11 a.m. at the church. A private burial will be at a later date.

Memorials are to Huntington First Church of the Nazarene or Parkviview Huntington Boys & Girls Club, in care of McElhaney-Hart Funeral Home, 715 N. Jefferson St., Huntington, IN 46750.

Online condolences may be made at www.mcelhaneyhartfuneralhome.com.