Wayne Snow Jr., former Georgia State Representative of Chickamauga, died Tuesday of complications from diabetes when a blood clot caused a heart attack after he underwent surgery. Mr. Snow was 68.
Mr. Snow served for 21 years in the Georgia General Assembly. He rose to chair the powerful House Judiciary Committee, and served on several other influential committees including the Ways and Means Committee and the House Retirement Committee.
Most notably, Mr. Snow also chaired the Committee to Revise the Judicial Article of the State Constitution and was a member of the Select Committee on Constitutional Revision. His work to rewrite and modernize the state's founding document resulted in Georgia voters ratifying a new State Constitution in 1982.
As a result of his experience as an attorney and lawmaker, then Governor Joe Frank Harris appointed Mr. Snow to the Governor's Advisory Committee on Crime and Punishment. He also appointed Mr. Snow as a member of the State Board of Pardons and Parole where he served for 10 years, eventually being elected as board chair.
Mr. Snow retired from the state legislature in 1986. Throughout his tenure at the state capitol, Mr. Snow remained active in his Northwest Georgia home community. He was a member of the Elizabeth Lee United Methodist Church where he taught the men's Sunday School class for 30 years and founded the Elizabeth Lee Methodist Trust Fund.
He was a past president of the Rossville Jaycees, a member of both the Georgia and Lookout Mountain bar associations, and was a strong supporter of the Walker County March of Dimes.
Mr. Snow also served in the 4004th U.S. Army Garrison of the Army Reserve in Chattanooga.
Mr. Snow was a foundation trustee for the University of Georgia where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1958 and earned a law degree in 1960.
He is survived by his two younger brothers, Mike Snow and Kenneth Snow, both of Chickamauga, and several nieces and nephews.
All three brothers maintained the family's agricultural nursery business in Chickamauga founded by their father Wayne Snow, Sr.
A private memorial service for Mr. Snow was held on Tuesday and was attended by family, former Governor Harris and a few other close friends.