Rick McCrabb: Snow, paralyzed 23 years ago, was 'a witness in the wheelchair'

Apr. 16—MIDDLETOWN — There were two James "Pete" Snows.

One Before Crash (BC) and another After Crash (AC).

The one BC was known for ranting from under the basket at the original Wade E. Miller Gym, constantly criticizing the basketball referees anytime they made a call he thought was against his beloved Middletown High School Middies.

During one game, after Snow continued questioning the referees, despite their warnings, he was kicked out of the gym.

But five minutes later, Snow was spotted in the gym's balcony sitting in the radio booth next to play-by-play announcer Jack Gordon and color commentator Carel Cosby.

The one AC was still passionate, but instead of berating the refs by pacing up and down the court, Snow performed his Middie Magic from his wheelchair, his home for the last 23 years since he was paralyzed in an automobile crash.

I remember interviewing Snow after the crash, his wife, Rose Marie, who he depended on more than his wheelchair, at his side. I asked him about the accident that left him a quadriplegic. He told me he was driving on Interstate 75 from Middletown to the Dayton Mall where he planned to buy a magazine about his favorite NFL team, the Cleveland Browns, on Sept. 9, 2000.

He never bought that magazine.

And last week, the Middies and the Browns lost one of their biggest and most vocal fans.

Snow, better known as "Mr. Middie," a nickname he certainly earned, died Wednesday at Majestic Nursing Home, where he had been a resident for eight years. He was 83.

Mark Kerns, a retired MHS teacher and former coach, took to Facebook to express his feelings about Snow, a man he met in 1985 when he was hired in Middletown.

"Little did I know then, this relationship would be one of the most rewarding, meaningful, and heartfelt experiences of my lifetime," Kerns wrote. "As much as anyone I have ever known, Pete's undying allegiance and passion for anything 'Middie' has resonated within me to a degree I can't really explain, but I certainly know what it feels and looks like. I simply witnessed how Pete lived his life, unwavering loyalty to Middletown and the innumerable athletes who wore and wear the purple and white."

Snow also bled red, white and blue. When the Middies were playing football at Barnitz Stadium, Snow sat in his wheelchair behind the team bench. When it was time for the national anthem, Snow asked his wife, or whoever was near him, to remove his Middie baseball hat, and place his hand over his heart.

Snow, a 1957 Middletown graduate, played football, ran track and wrestled in high school.

He was one of eight children. There were seven boys and one girl, Cecelia Thompson.

"He often told me, 'You're my only sister,'" Thompson said. "I liked that. It was a title I really appreciated."

Thompson said Snow worked at Armco, as a hall monitor in the Middletown school district and at the Robert "Sonny" Hill Jr. Community Center. On some days, she said, he worked three jobs in the same day.

One of Snow's daughters, Erin Snow-Harris, 61, said her father learned that work ethic from his parents. His father was a sharecropper.

"They believed that if you didn't have something and you wanted something, then go to work and get it," she said.

Snow-Harris described her father as stern in a loving way. He protected his family.

"He didn't play when it came to his kids," she said. "There was 'Community Pete' and 'Daddy Pete.' He was the most loving father a girl could have."

That didn't change after the accident. His lost his mobility. He kept his manhood.

"People reached out to him for advice," she said. "He was a witness in the wheelchair."

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JAMES 'PETE' SNOW FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS

Visitation: 10 a.m. to noon April 22 at New Era Baptist Church, 1120 Yankee Road, followed by funeral at noon. Burial at Woodside Cemetery.