MADERA – On Tuesday, October 25, 2022, Ronnie Lee Snipes of Madera went to sleep here on Earth and woke to see the face of our Lord, and spend eternity with the love of his life Jeana Dale Snipes in Heaven. Ronnie and his twin brother Lonnie were born to Woodrow Wilson Snipes and Sarah Lavern Martin Snipes on December 17, 1947, in Hanford, California.

The family moved to Merced County, where Ron and his two brothers spent their formative years. He was a 1966 graduate of Merced High School. After high school, Ron enlisted in the United States Army and served at the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, where he suffered an eye injury that prematurely ended his military career. He returned to Merced, where he worked in the auto parts industry. This was when he met the love of his life, Jeana Dale Harris. The two were married on September 6, 1969, and were blessed with two children, Wesley and Kimberly.

The family relocated to Madera when Ron began his seventeen-year career in the insurance field as a Farmers Insurance Agent in 1978. This was the same year the Snipes family joined the First Christian Church in Madera, where he remained an active member for the remainder of his life. After God and his family, Ron prioritized community service by joining the Elks Lodge and the Madera Breakfast Lions, in which he was a life member. Later, he would return to his youth, buy a motorcycle, and join the One Nation Under God Motorcycle Ministry, which raised money for Valley Children’s Hospital and worked with inmates in the valley prisons to strengthen their relationships with God.

When Ron left the insurance industry, he returned to college to finish his degree in business administration. By the time he was done with school, he had found he had a new title as a professor of business for the Madera Community Center, which would later become the Madera Community College. Ron was one of the only faculty to work at all of the college’s locations in Madera before it found its current location on Avenue 12. While Ron was just a part-time professor in Madera for his entire career, he also taught at West Hills College and Merced College to fill out his full-time schedule. In his passing, Ron is the first faculty member to be honored by the Madera Community College with lowering the school’s flag to half-mast following his death.

Ron was preceded in death by his parents Woodrow and Sarah Snipes, his wife, Jeana Snipes, his twin brother Lonnie Snipes, his brother and sister-in-law, Donald and Sharon Snipes, and his mother-in-law Ann Harris.

He was survived by his son Wesley Snipes, his daughter Kimberly, and her husband Wesley Potter; his grandchildren Brian John Snipes, Allison Michelle Porter, Sarah Eileen Porter, and Mekenzee Leece Atkinson-Potter; and his father-in-law Dale Harris, sisters-n-law Linda Larson and Virginia Harris and his brother-in-law Dale Harris Jr. and his ex-son-in-law Jack Porter Jr and his wife, Nancy. He is also survived by his nephews Paul Stark, Keith Snipes, Kyle Snipes, Paul Larson, and Sean Larson, and his nieces Kathrine Snipes and Kellie Snipes, along with several cousins and grand nephews and nieces. And, of course, his faithful companion Pelo, his dog.

A private burial will take place at a later date. Still, on November 5, 2022, at noon, a celebration of life service will be held for friends and family at the First Christian Church, 2300 Sunset Avenue in Madera, California. Refreshments will be served following the service.

The family asks that remembrances be made to one of Ron’s favorite charities, Teen Challenge of Southern California, 301 East Roberts Lane, Bakersfield, Ca 93308.