At the Friends of HAS Haiti this week, we received sad news about the passing of a dear friend and former Board member Chris Snavely. Chris died at home with his family, at the age of 88 years. Chris was first and foremost a family man, but he was also a US army veteran and former POW, a pioneer in the forest products industry. To us, he was a loyal friend and colleague, a gentleman and a true benefactor to thousands of Haitians as founder of the Haiti Timber Re-Introduction Project (HTRIP). HTRIP currently operates in 59 communities in Haiti with 4,000 farmers and landowners, who have planted over 892,000 trees. Christian Snavely and his inspirational dedication to HTRIP left a remarkable legacy to our cause and to the children of Haiti. His good work will continue to grow for generations, but he will certainly be missed.Below is Mr. Snavely's formal obituary from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and an additional article written by Diana Nelson Jones, also for the Post-Gazette.
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CHRISTIAN MILLER SNAVELY, Jr.
On October 24, 2012, in Pittsburgh, PA, Christian Miller Snavely, Jr., peacefully passed away in his home at age 88, surrounded by his loving family. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Theresa Vant Snavely. Chris was born in Lititz, PA where he spent his youth. He enlisted in the US Army in 1942 and entered the European Theater where he fought proudly in the Battle of the Bulge. Chris was captured there and remained a POW until his liberation in 1945. He was honorably discharged in 1945, and recalled into service during the Korean War, where he served, 1950 to 1951. Chris was stationed as an Army recruiter in Cortland, NY where he met the love of his life, Theresa. Chris was preceded in death by his son, Christian Miller Snavely III. He is also survived by his children, Susan Fitzsimmons (David) and Steve Snavely (Peggy); five grandchildren, Corinne Trively (Ed), Matthew Anderson, Patrick Snavely, Laura Snavely, and Eric Snavely. Chris was the proud great-grandfather of Samuel Trively, Sophia Trively and Quinn Trively; Chris is also survived by his sisters, Mary Roth (Gene, deceased) and Joanne Snavely; and brothers, Fred Snavely and Henry Snavely (Lucy). A graduate of Drexel University, Chris was the Chairman Emeritus of Snavely Forest Products, a national wholesale building products distribution company. He was elected Chairman of his industry trade association, NAWLA. NAWLA honored him by presenting him with the prestigious Mulrooney Award, which pays tribute to his long history of outstanding contributions to the forest products industry. Among Chris' many philanthropic endeavors, he actively supported The Pittsburgh Symphony and The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and was the founder of the Haiti Tree Reintroduction Program (HTRIP), whose objective is the reforestation of Haiti. Chris was a member of the Cat Cay Yacht Club in the Bahamas, Bohemian Club in San Francisco and the Duquesne Club. It has been said that he was the last to leave a party and the first to help anyone in need. Chris was a humble and generous man. Friends will be received from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on SATURDAY, October 27, 2012 at St. Clair Country Club, 2300 Old Washington Road, Upper St. Clair, 15241. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated in Chris' honor at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, October 29, 2012 at Saint Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin, 5302 Greenridge Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15236. A private burial will follow in Lititz, PA. Arrangements made by JOHN F. SLATER FUNERAL HOME, INC., 412-881-4100, Brentwood. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Haiti Timber Reintroduction Program, 6740 Reynolds Street, 2nd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15206 or The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, 803 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.
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Obituary: Christian M. Snavely Jr. / Helped reforest Haiti
Aug. 24,
1924 - Oct. 24, 2012
October 28,
2012 12:21 am
By Diana
Nelson Jones / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A man's
legacy would be rich if he had done nothing more important than provide a
million trees to Haiti. Christian Snavely was 82 when he started the Haiti
Timber Reintroduction Project and delivered the first 1,000 saplings.
He lived
to see the project grow exponentially. Today, 4,000 Haitians in 59 communities
are growing trees for food and erosion control.
A veteran
of World War II and the Korean War and longtime chairman of Snavely Forest
Products, Mr. Snavely died Wednesday at his home in Whitehall. He was 88.
Mr.
Snavely was a native of Lititz, Lancaster County, who enlisted in the Army in
1942 at age 18. He survived the Battle of the Bulge but was captured and held
for six months as a prisoner of war. In 1950, he was called to serve in the
Korean conflict and was later an Army recruiter in Cortland, N.Y.
He
attended Drexel University on the G.I. Bill and upon graduation took a job in
sales for Georgia Pacific. The company transferred him to Pittsburgh, where he
was recruited to work for a smaller company. He bought that company in 1958,
said his son, Steve Snavely of Upper St. Clair, who worked with his father for
40 years.
"He
was my boss, my father, my partner and my friend," he said. "He was
very inclusive. Whether you were a waiter or the president of a company, he was
pretty much the same guy. It was one of his wonderful traits."
His daughter,
Susan Fitzsimmons of Mt. Lebanon, also joined the family business. Father, son
and daughter have all served as president of the North American Wholesale
Lumber Association at various times.
"He
wanted the opportunity to be his own boss, to develop his own company and pass
the experiences on to his family," Ms. Fitzsimmons said. "His
generation reshaped America after World War II. He was the poster child of the
'greatest generation.'
"He
always made sure I had as many opportunities as any man would have," she
said. But he also taught her to be self-sufficient. Just out of college, she
said, she was driving when a tire went flat.
"Dad
crossed his arms and watched me change it. I said, 'Dad, come on,' and he said,
'One of these days you're going to be on the road alone.' "
In
preparing a eulogy, Dean Genge, a lifelong family friend, characterized the
effect Mr. Snavely had on people: "We sipped that sweet spirit of life. We
are all so grateful that this humble, happy, heroic, hard-working, handsome and
humane man was our grandfather, father, brother, husband and friend."
On his
first trip to Haiti, Mr. Snavely was a guest of Lucy Rawson, president of
Friends of Hopital Albert Schweitzer there. She spoke days ago from Haiti about
him and the legacy he has left.
"Nearly
a million trees now," she said. "He visited the hospital at first and
told us he didn't know anything about sick people but that he'd been reading
about Haiti and saw how it was deforested. " 'I know about trees,' he
said. 'If you want to plant trees, I could help you do that.' "
"He
said if you started an education program and taught farmers how to plant and
grow trees on their own land, they will understand the value and protect
them," she said. "He started with 10 villages. Each planted 100 trees.
Then farmers' friends took part in the education and in the planting and
attended classes. Each farmer helps the others plant. This is a sustainable
agri-forest program" of a wide variety of tree species.
When Mr.
Snavely started the program, he raised most of the money himself, she said. Now
it operates on $250,000 a year on support from numerous foundations, many in
Pittsburgh, and Mr. Snavely's friends.
During
one trip to Haiti, his daughter said, he was asked to speak to a church
congregation about his reforestation project.
"Afterward,"
she said, "a little girl just walked up to him and took his hand, and my
father started to cry."
In a 2006
article in Pittsburgh Quarterly, Mr. Snavely is quoted as saying, "The
optimistic thought is that the farmers will propagate their own trees to the
point that within 15 years they'd have some real forest down there. The people
there are beautiful. And God knows, they deserve more than what they get."
Mr.
Genge's sister, Debbie Dick, said Mr. Snavely had "an amazing sense of
humor, a twinkle in the eye and a boundless spirit. We kind of thought he would
live forever. He was still having lunch at the Duquesne Club until a couple
weeks" before he died.
Besides
his two children, he is survived by Terri Snavely, his wife of 65 years, five
grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
A funeral
Mass will celebrate his life Monday at 9:30 a.m. at Saint Gabriel of the
Sorrowful Virgin, 5302 Greenridge Drive, Whitehall.
First Published October 28, 2012 12:00 am
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