COLUMBIA - A graveside service for Rufus Whiteman “R.W.” Snipes, Jr., 93, will be held at 11:00 a.m. Monday, July 22, 2019 in Fort Jackson National Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. Sunday, July 21, 2019, at Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel.
Mr. Snipes passed away Thursday, July 11, 2019. Born in Marion County, SC on July 29, 1925, he was a son of the late Rufus Whiteman Snipes, Sr. and Mary Sue Turner Snipes.
While serving with the U.S. Air Force in England, he married Miss Dorothy Davenport in 1952. They had two sons: Steven, born in 1953, and Philip, born in 1957. They were married 61 years until her death in 2014.
Mr. Snipes was preceded in death by his mother, Mary Sue Turner Snipes, and his father, R. W. Snipes Sr., and all of his siblings and his sibling’s spouses.
He is survived by his sons, Steven, and Philip and by Philip’s wife, Brenda. He is also survived by his 3 grandsons and their wives, Matthew and Katherine, Andrew and Kiara, and Garrett and Emmy. Mr. Snipes is also survived by his great-grandsons, Henry and Walter who are the sons of Matthew and Katherine, and by his great-granddaughter, Mary Elizabeth, the daughter of Garrett and Emmy.
After graduating from high school and after a short time working at the Savannah shipyard, he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard at the age of 17. He remained in the USCG for the duration of World War II. While in the USCG, he attained the rank of Radioman 3rd Class. At the end of the war, he was briefly demobilized but soon enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force. He was with the USAAF when it became the U.S. Air Force. He remained in the USAF until his retirement in 1974. While serving in the USAF, he achieved the rank of Chief Master Sergeant, the highest rank possible for an enlisted man.
After his retirement from the USAF, he worked for the U.S. Post Office for 19 years. At his retirement he had nearly 50 years of government service
Please sign the online guestbook at www.dunbarfunerals.com.
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