Marion B. Snow May, 92, passed away on her 92nd birthday, October 13, 2015, in the comfort of her family at her daughter Gwyn’s home in Waitsfield. Born in Randolph on October 13, 1923, she was the daughter of the late Charles W. and Gladys (Fassett) Bissell. On November 28, 1946, she married John C. Snow Sr. in Randolph. John passed away on October 31, 1978. On August 17, 1988, she married William May in Warren who predeceased her on December 29, 1993.
Marion grew up in Warren where she attended Warren Village Grade School. Because the town of Warren was a tuition-based municipality at that time, Marion went to live with her grandmother in Randolph and was a 1941 graduate of Randolph High School. As a teenager Marion helped her father with his mail route between Warren and Roxbury during Christmas break from school. At the age of 16 she was sworn in by the U.S. Postal Service as a carrier and she and her younger brother Raymond drove a horse and sleigh between Warren and Roxbury to deliver mail. In addition, Marion helped her parents on weekends with their restaurant and dance hall in Warren Village.
Following graduation from high school, Marion worked at the Hollyhock Lodge in Randolph waitressing and dishwashing before enrolling in the nursing program at Mary Hitchcock Hospital. She worked at Mary Hitchcock as a “cadet nurse” during WWII.
Marion’s true passion was to become a beautician and she followed that dream, graduating from the Vermont State Academy of Beauty Culture in Bennington. Following her marriage, she and John moved to Burlington where she worked and then operated a beauty salon for three years. Returning to the Mad River Valley expecting her first born, Marion operated a beauty salon from her home in Warren for many years in addition to being a homemaker and raising eight children. Not one to be idle and forever social, she later worked as a senior meals manager in Waitsfield and a driver for Green Mountain Transit Agency, providing rides in her car for people to keep doctors’ appointments and disability recreational activities.
Her memberships included Warren United Church, Warren Grange, Granddaughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, the Mad River Valley American Legion Auxiliary Unit 75 and the Northeast Fiddlers Association. In her leisure time she loved traveling and dancing.
Marion is loved and mourned by her children, Gladys Stevenson of California, Lila Deveney and her partner Gerald (Beak) Gouker of Myersville, Maryland, Muriel Neel and her husband Harold of Panton, Gwyn Balch and her partner David Armstrong of Waitsfield, Charles R. Snow of Warren, John C. Snow Jr. of Warren, Leon R. Snow of Myersville, Maryland, and George R. Snow and his wife Linda of Arizona; 10 grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren; a sister, Muriel Griffin and her husband Robert of Fayston; as well as nieces, nephews and extended family. Marion was predeceased by two granddaughters, Kristie Stevenson and Shannon Touchette, two grandsons, Adam Snow and Mark Stevenson, and a brother, Raymond Bissell.
Funeral services will be held from Warren United Church on Saturday, October 17, 2015, at 11 a.m. with interment to follow in the Warren Village Cemetery. Friends may call at Perkins-Parker Funeral Home in Waterbury on Friday, October 16, 2015, from 6 to 8 p.m. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial gifts would be appreciated to Warren United Church, P.O. Box 114, Warren, VT 05674 or to Evergreen Place, 5308 Main Street, Waitsfield, VT 05673. To send online condolences visit www.perkinsparker.com.
