Kenneth Gayle Snipes, Sr.
(March 8, 1955 - April 20, 2013)
Kenneth Gayle Snipes, Sr., 58, of Fort Payne passed away Saturday, April 20, 2013 at his home. He was the owner of Snipes Pest Control.
He is survived by his sons John (Rachel) Snipes of Decatur and Kenn (Abby) Snipes of Orlando, FL, brother Rick Snipes, sister Ann(Denny) Mashburn, and grandchildren Cecilia Joan Snipes and Harper Gayle Snipes.
(March 8, 1955 - April 20, 2013)
Kenneth Gayle Snipes, Sr., 58, of Fort Payne passed away Saturday, April 20, 2013 at his home. He was the owner of Snipes Pest Control.
He is survived by his sons John (Rachel) Snipes of Decatur and Kenn (Abby) Snipes of Orlando, FL, brother Rick Snipes, sister Ann(Denny) Mashburn, and grandchildren Cecilia Joan Snipes and Harper Gayle Snipes.
My heart is breaking for my husband. His father passed away last week and I can not imagine the pain that he is feeling right now. Although there relationship was a bit awkward at times, there was so much love in that father and son relationship. My husband and his brother were my father-in-law's world and he would do anything for those boys.
What do you even say to someone who has lost a parent? I remember standing with Big Ken at his own father's funeral and he stood silent for the longest time before saying that he was now an orphan, as his mother had also passed away a few years before. All I could do was give the big guy a hug, I had no words, and now with Big Ken's passing I have no words that will comfort my husband. Afraid to say the wrong thing all I can do is be here and hope he knows how much I love him and that I am here for him.
I had only known Big Ken the last 9 years or so but I always felt welcomed by him. There was a time that he was the only member of my husband's family that I got along with because I am painfully shy but some how Big Ken always brought me out of my shell and I so glad for that because I have good memories of him that I can share with my husband as we continue through life. I have stories that I can share with our little girls as they grow older and ask about him. I am sad that he was only weeks away from meeting his newest grand baby as I know those little squishy faces always made him smile, thankfully my husband was able to Skype with him a bit over the last few months so he could see the girls in action. :) I am sure that meant a lot to him.
I posted this on the memory wall for him on Facebook but I wanted to just share it here also.
Since I cannot be there in person on Thursday to share in my own memories of my father in law I wanted to share something here.
One of the things I always loved about Big Ken was that he and I could BS and pick at each other without hard feelings. He was as stubborn as the day is long but I am just as stubborn and feisty, which kept it interesting. Lol It was our silly way of getting along with each other the last nine years. Although in the beginning I am sure he did not know what to think of this strong willed girl taking his sweet baby boy’s heart..
I will never forget his kindness and that beneath that rough exterior (and wild hair) that he was just the softest teddy bear you’d ever meet. There were a handful of times that he was honest with me in ways he was not with little Kenn and it showed me that he was doing whatever he could to protect his boys from feeling hurt, being the best dad he knew how to be for them.
My heart is breaking for Kenn and John and the rest of the Snipes family. I am sad that he will not meet his littlest granddaughter or see John and Rachel marry next month, but I know he will be with us all always in spirit and we will keep him alive with our memories of him, from here on out. We have lost another great one and our lives are forever changed.
One of the things I always loved about Big Ken was that he and I could BS and pick at each other without hard feelings. He was as stubborn as the day is long but I am just as stubborn and feisty, which kept it interesting. Lol It was our silly way of getting along with each other the last nine years. Although in the beginning I am sure he did not know what to think of this strong willed girl taking his sweet baby boy’s heart..
I will never forget his kindness and that beneath that rough exterior (and wild hair) that he was just the softest teddy bear you’d ever meet. There were a handful of times that he was honest with me in ways he was not with little Kenn and it showed me that he was doing whatever he could to protect his boys from feeling hurt, being the best dad he knew how to be for them.
My heart is breaking for Kenn and John and the rest of the Snipes family. I am sad that he will not meet his littlest granddaughter or see John and Rachel marry next month, but I know he will be with us all always in spirit and we will keep him alive with our memories of him, from here on out. We have lost another great one and our lives are forever changed.
Abby, the more I come to know you, the more I love you. You "get it." You have put into words what I have had trouble expressing about my sons' father. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteKen, Sr. Was a big man, huge, actually. My standing joke was funny and true: whenever I went looking for Ken if I didn't see him he just wasn't there. Yeah, he was that big. Yet, he had perfected a technique to blend into the background, disappear, a quiet, gentle giant.
I had forgotten how shy people gravitated toward him, he with his heart turned toward those less forward, less fortunate. He was a kind man, a generous man. And funny. No matter how mad I got at him, he WOULD make me laugh. A stealthy humor. A whole day sick, blowing my nose, looked at him, whining I was so tired of blowing my nose. He looking at me with deadpan seriousness and sympathy, "And your head is smaller, too." The morning I missed the news and he told me that the astronauts circling the earth were in trouble because their spaceship's orbit was getting bigger and bigger and was going to be flung away from earth. I went around all day telling people that. That night I confronted him with his lie he couldn't have been more pleased. I can still see his face, trying not to go hysterical with laughter, his bouncing shoulders giving him away. Those are two off the top of my head but there are thousands of stories of this man who could make you laugh.
Ken was my second husband. My first marriage ended badly, for years I was taunted and illegally denied my rights to visit with my daughter and son. The darkest years of my life. Those years this man tended to me in my pain, and watched in intermittant glimpses how my children and I were adversely affected by the twisted, cruel reasonings of these people who seemed to care only for their own satisfaction.
While I certainly wouldn't recommend that type of parenting, a very important thing came of it. Ken and I came to know firsthand how NOT to raise a child, a very important lesson which proved itself in the man who today we have come together to honor and remember.
This kind, loving man was not perfect. Neither am I, neither are any of us. He took a few bad spills, spiritually, and so did I, and so, probably have you. But we came to know that to break a child's trust in his other parent was to fracture a child's own self, a problem which could determine how that child saw himself, others, and God Himself.
No matter what, our children were going to know who they were, what was right, what was wrong, how they were expected to treat others with respect and kindness, how to reason for themselves, how to laugh and play, and that they were loved and of great value, that God was love and all knowing, God loves them, and God's name is Jesus Christ.
As I said earlier, we have had our spills, our bad decisions, and misfortunes, those times when, though we knew God we were not that close to him. But in His mercy He never forgot us. He never forgets us. He sent others to walk beside us for comfort, mercy, or direction. He found ways to get our attention, to remind us in Whom we have believed.
God always reminds us, no matter what, we are his children, of great value and very precious to Him. I will always be grateful for this man, Kenneth Gayle Snipes, Sr., that my Lord brought into my life, a man of great value and very precious to me.