Kinzer Snow

Kinzer "Bill" Melrose Snow of rural Bayfield, Colorado, passed away on the 19th of February, 2016. He was born on 19 April 1921 to Lawrence and Lola Melrose Snow. He would have been 95 years old on April 19th.. His mother, Lola Vernice Melrose was the first child of Joseph Matthew Melrose and Ella Perl (Kinzer) Melrose.

Bill, as he was known, enlisted in the U.S. Army at Pueblo, Colorado on 23 June 1942 & served during WWII in Italy and southern France in Patton's 3rd Army where he was captured by the Germans at the Colmar Pocket fighting in Nov 1944. He was a P.O.W. in Stalag 3A at Luckenwald in east Germany for about 7 months until they were liberated by the Russians on 22 April 1945. It was later in May before he was back in the U.S. Army held area. He was wounded in Italy & earned the Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star and the P.O.W. medal as well as the Invasion Arrowheads and European-Middle Eastern-Africa Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Metal, Battle Service Stars, and other metals. He was promoted to Staff Sergeant. I was told that he weighed 95 lbs when he was released from the P.O.W. camp.

He was married to Cleta Woolsey on 12 March 1942. They have three sons, Douglas, Ronald (deceased in 1996) and Kinzer. Doug & Butch live in the Ignacio, Colorado area. Cleta passed in 2010. They lived in Pagosa Springs, near Bayfield and near Basalt but Bill & Cleta lived most of the last 40 or so years on their home place up north of Bayfield. Bill also leaves one younger brother, Cleo Snow who lives with his wife at Benson, Arizona. Bill's sisters, Marion, Florence, Opal and brother, Raymond have all passed away.

He was a good man whose friends and family will miss him very much. He has gone to be with his brothers-in-arms.