Walter Littel Snowden P.E.

Walter Littel Snowden, P.E., 79, of Cedar Park, Texas passed away peacefully on April 27, 2010 at 2:15 pm at The Christopher House hospice facility in Austin, Texas. Walter was an only child, born on January 2, 1931 to parents Littel and Artis (Suzie) Fields. Walter's father died when Walter was very young. His mother later met and married a man named Jefferson Crocket Snowden, who came to be called Big Jeff. Big Jeff was a very positive influence in Walter's life. So much so, that Walter convinced his mother to let him legally change his last name to Snowden. While Walter was still only a young man, Big Jeff was killed in an automobile accident. For the most part, Walter was raised by his very capable mother, Suzie, with the additional influence of his four equally capable aunts. Big Jeff was a road building contractor, and prior to his father's death, Walter's sole desire and ambition was to be an equipment operator working for his dad. That ambition was redirected, however, after Big Jeff's tragic death. While growing up, Walter lived in several places, including a ranch that is now part of the Aransas Wildlife Refuge near San Benito, Texas. While living in Kerrville, he graduated from Tivy High School in Kerrville, Texas, and joined the U.S. Navy. He served as a radioman on a personnel transport ship in the Korean war, and was honorably discharged from the Navy with the rank of Petty Officer 2nd Class in 1954. Walter then enrolled at The University of Texas at Austin. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 1958. He was the first in his simple, working class, self taught family to attend and graduate from college. His career first began with Texcon Precast in Austin, Texas, followed by Frank G. Bryant & Associates in Austin, Texas. While working at Bryant, he developed a friendship with future business partner, Kirby T. Meyer. In 1964, Walter and Kirby struck out on their own and formed Snowden & Meyer, little knowing the dramatic impact they and their business would have both in landmark projects, and in the way foundation design is practiced today. Landmark projects with which Walter worked include the following: • Design and construction of the Submarine Theater at Aquarena Springs, in San Marcos, Texas, which operated until the purchase of the property by Texas State University. • Design and construction of the overhead cable car skyride at Brackenridge Park, in San Antonio, Texas, which is one of only about 100 Von Roll cable rides built worldwide. • Design of structural elements of the skyride built for Hemisfair in San Antonio, Texas Walter was a major contributor to the development of the current standard of practice for the design of slab on ground foundations, the basis for nearly every home and light residential building built today. In fact, Snowden & Meyer designed the very first post-tensioned slab on ground in Central Texas back in the mid-1960's, thereby introducing this new technology that went on to be a standard in residential and light commercial construction. In 1980 Walter separated from Snowden & Meyer and formed Snowden, Inc., which he operated until his recent retirement. While operating Snowden, Inc. he authored the "Design of Slab-On-Ground Foundations" for the Wire Reinforcement Institute. This document was published in 1981, and was subsequently adopted by the Uniform Building Code (UBC) as Standard 29-4(l) and is still the standard referenced by UBC today. Walter was an active supporter of the environment, the community, and of his profession. He was a long-standing member of the Audubon Society, Sertoma (Service to Mankind) Club, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Texas Society of Professional Engineers. Walter is survived by his wife Aletha McCasland Snowden; children Jeff Snowden, Robin Snowden, Melissa Smith; step-children Donald Stone, PhD, Henry Stone, Matthew Stone and another; grandchildren Michael Snowden, William Snowden, Tyler Snowden, Thomas Stone, Angus Stone, Jackson Smith, Zoe Smith and another, and great grandchild Graysen Snowden. Pallbearers will include Jeff Snowden, Donald Stone, Henry Stone, Matthew Stone, Michael Snowden, William Snowden, and Tyler Snowden. Honorary pallbearers include Robert Brockman, Donald West, Robert West, Jerry Y. Graves and Patrick W. Sullivan. Visitation/viewing will be available at Weed Corley-Fish funeral home, 3125 N. Lamar, Austin, TX, on Friday, April 30th, beginning at 10:00am. Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 am on Saturday, May 1st, at First Unitarian Universalist Church, 4700 Grover Avenue Austin, TX 78756-3108. Interment will follow at Austin Memorial Park. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to Sertoma, Austin-Hospice, or Christopher House.