PRINT ADS

Donald Snippen was honored by his family and friends on Saturday. It is only partially coincidental that he was honored on Memorial Day Weekend.

Snippen, who passed away on Dec. 1, 2007, with family members near his bedside at his home in Washburn, was a World War II Veteran. He attended observances each Memorial Day at the Warrens Cemetery, where his cremains were interred next to his first wife, Jeanne, during a ceremony with full military honors on Saturday.

“He was very adamant about Memorial Day,” Snippen’s son David said of his father. “Every year he was at Warrens for the annual ceremony.”

Snippen was born in Beloit and spent much of his life in Washburn, even though the Warrens area is considered the family home. He joined the Army to be with many of his buddies who were drafted during World War II, but that was the last he saw of many of them, his daughter Patricia said, because they all went different directions.

Snippen was wounded in Normandy, France. He was hit badly with shrapnel from an exploding shell, and lost a kidney. He was taken to Seattle, Wash. to recuperate, and his eldest son, Dennis, was born while his wife, Jeanne, did not know if Don had lived.

After the war, Snippen decided to return to college. He attended college at River Falls in the 1950s and graduated with a teaching degree. Through college, Snippen worked full time at the River Falls Creamery to support his family of nine children (Dennis, Duane, Patricia Gilles, David, Robert, Kathleen Marincel, Diane Persing, Randy, and Babette Pratliff).

Snippen taught agriculture at Ondossagon High School in Ashland. He later taught Industrial Art and Driver’s Education. He retired 30 years ago as nerve damage caused by the shrapnel took its toll on him. He was also an avid boater, hunter and family man. He enjoyed family gatherings, and there was one more for him after the ceremony on Saturday at the home of family member Russ Kastens. Kastens, along with Snippen’s sister Jean Case and Mary Palmer held a family gathering with the friends and family of Snippen in his honor Saturday. In attendance were family members from Minnesota, Kansas City, Kansas, a nephew from Germany and Snippen’s recent wife of 10 years, Fran Bizub. Snippen’s wife Jean preceded him in death in 1987 and his eldest son, Dennis, also preceded him in death.

David Snippen said that his father was never one who enjoyed fanfare, but his family felt obliged to honor him on Saturday. They were proud to honor a man who honored others and his country.

“Honestly, he probably wouldn’t approve of any of this,” David Snippen said of his father. “He was very basic, and he didn’t want any fanfare. Not even after the war. To him, he was just one of millions who just did their part, and he did it and went on with his life. We will honor him. We honor all of them on Memorial Day.”