George Robert Snead

George Robert “Bob” Snead, retired army aviator, and noted actor and artist, passed away July 11, 2020, in his Prosper, Texas, home surrounded by family, following a four-and-a-half year battle with advanced stage colon cancer.

Born January 26, 1936 in Charlotte, NC, Snead graduated from West Charlotte High School in 1954.

Snead, who had recently relocated to North Texas after living more than 42 years in El Paso, Texas, was known to many around the world as a modern-day Renaissance Man. He was at once a war hero, an accomplished artist, a stage actor, an entrepreneur, and a noted historian.

Snead served more than 30 years in the U.S. Army, entering the service at the age of 19, and retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer Four, in 1982. The highly decorated dual-rated combat aviator served four tours of duty in Vietnam, earning among other commendations, 41 air medals, three Purple Hearts, three Vietnam Crosses of Gallantry with Silver Star, two Bronze Stars with V-Devices, and the Master Aviator Badge.

A self-taught cartoonist and artist, Snead went on to study at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, CA, the University of Mainz in Mainz, Germany, and alongside Italian impressionist Salviano Constantin, while stationed with the military in Vicenza, Italy, in the 1982.

Snead and his family relocated to El Paso, Texas, in the late 1970s, with his commission at Fort Bliss to serve in air defense. He gained prominence in his post-military career as a celebrated historian of the Buffalo Soldiers – the all-black 9th and 10th Calvary Regiments of the U.S. Army. Known throughout the El Paso community for his 50-year study and visual retrospective of the once-obscure troops of the 19th century, Snead’s research led to the development of his seminal body of work, entitled “100 Years Ago: The Buffalo Soldier Revisited.” With a deft brush and keen eye for detail, Snead spent countless hours in his East El Paso studio bringing to the life the valiant exploits of the black men in blue. The 167-piece collection toured the world many times over with several original pieces from the exhibit now hanging in private collections throughout the country and the Texas Governor’s Mansion. Twenty-six pieces are currently on permanent loan with the McCall Neighborhood in Central El Paso. Snead went on to also gift 10 pieces of his artwork to his alma mater at West Charlotte High School the fall of 2016.

In 1983, the story of the Buffalo Soldiers was brought to the stage with Snead’s one-man, one-act play, “Held in Trust: The Life and Times of Lt. Henry Ossian Flipper,” the first black graduate of West Point Military Academy. Snead performed the show for more than 25 years in venues across the globe, to include a standing room only performance in front of Flipper’s great nephew, who was himself a cadet at West Point, in 1986. Held in Trust was later adapted for television in 1996, garnering a Bronze Apple Award for Educational Excellence from PBS.

An impassioned advocate for Texas arts and arts education across the state, Snead was appointed by former Gov. George W. Bush to the Texas Commission on the Arts and as the designated artist on the committee to design the Texas State Quarter. He served as an artist-in-residence for the University of Texas at El Paso African American Studies in 1998.

Snead is an inductee into both the El Paso International Hall of Fame for Visual arts (1999) and the El Paso Aviation Hall of Fame (2015). He was also recognized as the 2019 Trailblazer Award honoree for the National Alumni Association of West Charlotte High School.

Snead, the eldest son of Laura and Allen Snead, is survived by his wife of 59 years, Joyce Nicholson Snead of Prosper, TX; his brothers Norman Frazier Snead and his wife Clara of Raleigh, NC, and Donnie Ray Snead, and Tony Leverne Snead and his wife Pat – all of Charlotte, NC; his daughter Vivian Michele Snead Wade and her husband Kenneth Wade of Silver Spring, MD; his son George Christopher Snead and his wife Susan Snead of Lubbock, TX; and his daughter Karen-Elizabeth Snead Partee and her husband Bryan Partee of Prosper, TX; and his grandchildren – Kasidy Jordan Meador and her husband Todd Meador of Aspermont, TX; Kailey Marissa Snead of Lubbock, TX; Jocelyn Laurel Wade of Silver Spring, MD; Shelby Elizabeth Snead of Lubbock, TX; Olivia Catherine Wade of Silver Spring, MD; J. Noah Hewson Partee of Prosper, TX; and great-granddaughter Hallie Ray Meador of Aspermont, TX.