(From Mason-Woodard Mortuary)
Harlan Boyd Snow, 88, Joplin, a retired veteran Missouri Journalist, died Tuesday, April 18, 2017 at
Freeman Hospital, following an illness.
Mr. Snow, a lifelong Missourian, was born Aug. 13, 1928 in western Lawrence County near
Sarcoxie, to Hazel A. Snow and Pauline E. (Woods) Snow, both descendants of pioneer settlers
of the southwest corner of the county in the 1840s – 1850s.
A graduate of Sarcoxie High School and the class of 1951 of what is now Missouri State University, he spent his 44-year work career entirely in Missouri, beginning with a two-year hitch as history and speech teacher at Eldon High School.
Next, following one year as an announcer at KRMS at Osage Beach, he began a career as a newsman at KFSB in Joplin. One-year stints at KRMS and KBTN at Neosho then preceded 10.5 years as news director at KSIS, Sedalia.
He joined The Joplin Globe as a reporter on Feb. 1, 1968 and retired 27 years later. His tenure at
The Globe involved reporting on a wide variety of beats, including politics, business, city government, education and highways.
Upon retirement, he served one elected term as the first chairman of the Jasper County Emergency
Services board which oversaw the startup of the county’s first enhanced 9-1-1 emergency dispatch system.
While in Sedalia he served as co-chairman of the town’s first Scott Joplin ragtime concert, a
forerunner of today’s annual festival honoring the pioneer pianist and composer. In 2007,
Mr. Snow received an award from the festival sponsors for his early efforts.
An amateur historian, he wrote a history of the first 100 years of the Sedalia Fire Department published in 1968 after his move to Joplin. He served as a member and report drafter of a citizens committee, appointed by the City Council, to conduct a management audit of the Joplin Fire Department in 1979. In addition to being a fire buff, he was a collector of jazz records, most all of which were lost in Joplin’s May 22, 2011 tornado.
He was a past member of the Lions Club at Eldon, and at Osage Beach; the Sedalia Jaycees, and the Radio and Television News Directors Association. He was an Eagle Scout in his youth. He was baptized in the Methodist Church and attended Fellowship Baptist Church, Joplin.
He married Carolyn Ann Breeden, June 15, 1969 in Joplin. Surviving are his wife; a son, Brice Snow, of the home; and a daughter, Beth Snow, of Joplin.
Funeral services for Harlan Snow will be held 10 a.m. Thursday, April 27, at Mason-Woodard Mortuary. Visitation will be 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, April 26.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be donated to Shriners Hospitals for Children, in care of the mortuary.
