Ann Clarke Snell

Ann Clark Snell died at the age of 86 in Asheville, North Carolina, on Thursday, August 10, “in her sleep, in her own bed, in her own home”. It was what she wanted and, as usual, she got her way. Farley, her husband of sixty-eight years, said that he had promised to outlive her and not leave her alone, and she saw to it.

Ann was born in Miami, Florida, grew up in Jacksonville, and attended Florida Southern College (where she met Farley), Hunter College in New York City, the University of Miami, Indiana University, and at the Law School at the University of Texas, garnering three degrees along the way. She was a teacher, than an attorney as a partner in Bickerstaff, Heath, and Smiley in Austin, Texas. She collected art of her liking in support of artists, and her large and eclectic collection remains as her presence in her home.

She was a life-long Methodist, attending services regularly and serving in several leadership roles at First United Methodist Church in Georgetown, Texas. But at heart, her religion was hope. She often referred to herself as a “hope junkie”.

She was a liberal Democrat and a longtime feminist. She was a founding attorney of the Texas Women’s Advocacy Project, a statewide legal services organization, and at one point its President and for whom its annual award for outstanding service by an attorney was named. When in Asheville, North Carolina, she served as the President of the GEM Fund, established to assist women whose college educations have been interrupted or delayed. She also served as President of the Asheville branch of the American Association of University Women.

Ann is survived by her husband; her daughter Myra (who teaches mathematics at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, California), and Myra’s husband John McDonald; her son Clarke (an architect who teaches at the New York Institute of Technology), and Clarke’s partner Nancy; her sister Myra Worsham, and Myra’s husband Raymond; and her brother Roy and his partner Iris. And a whole slew of friends she loved and who loved her.

Her husband asks that gifts to honor her life and commitments be given to the GEM Fund and mailed to GEM Fund Treasurer, 4B Long Shoals Road #135, Arden, NC 28704.

Groce Funeral Home on Patton Avenue is assisting the family.