Dad
Christopher Snelling
Pittsford: November 11, 2008. Devoted husband, father and grandfather, Christopher is survived by his wife, Gail (Leake); sons, Christopher (Dorothy) and David Snelling, Ian (Colleen) Carey; daughter, Amy (James) Cuny; grandchildren, Chanté, Chelsea and Christopher Snelling, Sophie and William Cuny, and Ian and Colleen's expected twin daughters; sisters, Sarah Powers of NH and Matilda Smith of TX; several nieces & nephews.
Christopher retired as a research fellow from Xerox Corporation in 2000 after over 40 years of pioneering scientific work in xerography. He held over 100 patents including image on image xerography, a process that revolutionized color printing. He was a member of the Electrostatic Society of America, the Rochester Aero Modeling Society, HLAA, and he was an avid golfer.
A Memorial Service will be held Friday, 10:30 am at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 25 Westminster St. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Christopher may be directed to the Pluta Cancer Center, 125 Red Creek Dr., Rochester, NY 14623.
http://www.legacy.com/DemocratAndChronicle/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=120086022
It was a long weekend. I went to visit him at the Fairport Baptist Home on Friday. We were getting ready to leave and he asked if we were all going to dinner after we left him. We asked him if he would like us to get some pizza and he said that sounded like fun. I brought back pizza and we all sat at a round table and ate with him.
We got a phone call Saturday morning that he couldn't breathe and needed to go to the hospital. We spent most of the day at the ER waiting for a room. Not a very fun day for his birthday. Brad and I gave him a Livestrong hat for his birthday and he immediately put it on before we could even take the tags off. Finally got him situated in a room late in the evening.
Monday I drove up early to see him. He was not getting better. I spent the whole day there holding his hand and making sure he was comfortable. It was hard understanding him with the oxygen mask on, but he was still keeping his sense of humor. At one point he wanted me to turn the TV on. I put RNews on for him and we saw NY Governor Patterson speaking. I told him I thought it was amazing how far we had come that we had a Black Governor and a Black President-elect. He said he thought so too. He was so happy that he was able to participate in voting last week even though it took so much energy out of him to get to the polling place even with the help of oxygen and friends. It was very important to him....
I stayed late Monday night holding his hand and interacting with him. He was still very coherent. I finally went back to the house after we said we loved each other and I kissed his forehead. He said how proud he was of me and how happy he was that I had Brad.
My brother stayed with him. At 2:30 his eyes were wide and he was non-responsive. At 4:30 my brother called to say he had passed on. He said he remembered how the Hospice book said that they sometimes like to go when they are alone. He left the room for 10 minutes and when he came back he was gone...
I'm glad I was able to share his last few hours and he did not suffer too long.
I thought I was prepared to lose him, but it really hurts to never see him again...