Obituary
Albert Sneed

On the evening of February 13, 2025, with his children by his side at home, our beloved father, Al Sneed took his last breath. His final battle with cancer was over. His prayers were answered because he petitioned the Lord for a peaceful passing in his sleep. He never wanted to be in any home but his own. Thankfully the love of family he taught us prevailed. His daughters Beth and Mary were by his side to comfort and care for him the last six weeks of his life. His miraculous story of survival and God’s mercy began at birth on June 24, 1931. When his mother heard these words from the doctor, “Mrs. Sneed, I’m sorry to tell you your newborn son will not live past 3 days,” she was naturally terrified, but she was a woman of great faith. She called the Dominican Nuns. The nuns took the newborn, placed him on the altar at Sacred Heart Cathedral in downtown Raleigh and began to pray. “And now for the rest of the story,” like Paul Harvey used to say (Dad loved that guy). Over 93 years later, Albert M. Sneed, the youngest son of Dora and Lester Sneed, was still defying the odds. His miraculous recovery at birth was just one of many stories in the life of a man in perpetual motion. He conquered many more challenges with dignity and determination. - bladder and prostate cancers, aortic aneurysm for 30 years, and a pacemaker - but you would never know if you saw him in action. He remained completely independent until the last 2 months of his life. He didn’t have hearing aids, and only needed glasses to thread a needle. His doctors were amazed. In fact they loved seeing him, were inspired by his sharp mind and wit, and listened intently as he told his stories about how God saved him from all these illnesses. He called them his miracles. He combined his servant heart with a strong work ethic, giving us a great example of how to use God given abilities and entrepreneurship to make a positive impact in the world. As a youth, he started a lawn business, collected H&S Green stamps, sold squirrels and held a paper route for over 10 years, where he was awarded paperboy of the year in 1943 for the Raleigh Times afternoon newspaper. But he was just getting started. He worked and saved so much he was able to send Hershey bars, nylon stockings for the ladies, and cigarettes to his older brother Les in the Mediterranean theatre of operation during World War II. When the war was over, he purchased an actual airplane to give to his oldest brother Edgar, a navy veteran pilot. Brother Edgar was starting a flight instruction school, and little brother Albert wanted to help. He was always giving something. If you needed it, he would give it to you. A brief illness ended his college education, but he didn’t miss a beat. He went to work for Sears Roebuck and Company in a brand new store at the newly developed Cameron Village Shopping Center in 1952. This job launched his 36 year career with America’s biggest retailer. He sold sewing machines, vacuum cleaners, watches, sporting goods and anything else they asked him to sell. He even helped develop the original specifications for the first line of Kenmore appliances. Recognizing the work ethic of women, he was one of the first to place women in sales and management positions. As he climbed the corporate ladder, he built new and profitable divisions for the company and even got to shake hands with heavy weight champ Joe Louis at a national sales meeting. The caption to the photo read, “Champ met Champ.” Our dad knocked GE out of the top spot in sales nationwide in the 1960’s, and Joe Louis knocked out his own heavyweight challengers. Sears V.P.’s were taking notice. He retired from national headquarters in the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower) - in Chicago. He held the title of Executive Vice President, reflecting his significant contributions to the company’s operations and strategic direction during his tenure. After retiring from Sears, he remarried, having been divorced from our mother for about three years (both of his wives were named Jean - how convenient). We referred to his new Jean, with her approval of course, as Jean II. They moved to a beautiful home on Naples Bay in Florida and began to enjoy the good life together with their pet poodles and a rescued white Maltese named Jingles. They even co-authored a children’s book together about Jingles: Guess Who Came for Christmas? The Story of Mr. Jingles. There would be no resting in retirement for our dad. To say he stayed active would be like calling the Grand Canyon a ditch - a gross understatement. His mind was always reeling with ways to help support charities, and he used the experience from his early days with Sears in Cameron Village to fix the sewing machines, vacuum cleaners and watches he learned so much about in his first retail jobs. He would refurbish these items and donate them to charitable thrift stores. Dad’s love affair with thrift stores arose from his frugal nature. Growing up during the depression in a house with seven children creates a lasting effect on a person, and our father was a very eloquent example of frugality. He took it to another level. In Naples, he created a unified Thrift Store marketing flyer and convinced them the idea would increase sales. Some of them tried to resist his idea, but resistance was futile. Business increased according to some of the store managers. Dad was their new hero, unless they actually wanted to retire. If you needed a vacuum cleaner, he would get you one. If you needed a watch, he had one. He started a program he called “Someone is Watching You.” If he saw someone doing something nice, he would hand them a watch and say, “I saw you do this nice thing the other day, and I want you to know that someone is watching you.” He would then present them with a watch. Some of us ended up with watches, vacuum cleaners and sewing machines even though we didn’t really need one. It was hard to turn him down. Sometimes we would just say ‘yes’ to get him to stop asking. He was born to sell. When his beloved Jean II passed, he couldn’t stand to be alone. The retirement home scene was not for him, so he moved back to his home town of Raleigh, where continued fixing sewing machines, vacuum cleaners and watches for the thrift stores to sell and raise money for the charities they supported. He cared for his widow sister-in-law Cecilia until she developed dementia. When she required professional skilled care, he would have to bow out of the home to allow the professionals to work without interference. Our brother John came to the rescue and got Dad moved into their home one weekend. In one great act of selflessness, John and his wife Dawn gave up their master bedroom for Dad to live in until we could build an addition onto the house for Dad. Picking up right where he left off, his new residence began to fill with sewing machines, vacuum cleaners and watches to refurbish and deliver to the volunteer angels at A-to-Z Thrift Store. All the while, he continued his friendship with Charlie Jones and his rescue dog Archie. Dad would go see him nearly every Monday morning, even during his cancer treatment. Charlie used to help him print owner’s manuals for the vacuum cleaners and sewing machines. Charlie even brought Archie to see Dad after he could no longer drive in his final months. His greatest miracle was about to unfold - the miracle of reconciliation. After decades of bitterness from the divorce with his first wife, the Lord began to work on his heart. On the morning of August 10, 2023, as I sat with him, he asked me to give a message to our mother. He wanted to wish her a happy birthday. I was on my way down to surprise our mom. It would be her 90th birthday. I suggested we could record the message on my phone. He said “okay,” and I pressed the record button. What followed was more than a birthday wish that August of 2023. My father humbly apologized to her and the entire family for any hurt he had caused her or the family. He told her he loved her and her twin sister, wished them a happy birthday, and offered his assistance in any way they might need. When he finished the recording, he looked at me and said, “I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders.” A sense of peace washed over him. When I played the message for our mother Jean, she was overjoyed. They spent time together the next summer, and it was an amazing example of God’s glory and mercy in redemption. He even became friends with her husband Bernie. There was no quit in this man. One week before he passed, an elderly lady brought a sewing machine to him. He got dressed, which was a real chore, and when she arrived, they worked together and made it operate “just like new” as he used to love to say. This was a classic example of his creed: go out of your way to do something nice for someone everyday. He is survived his two younger sisters Barbara Newton of Chapel Hill and Phyllis Vermilyea of Winston Salem, and by his five children Beth Moss (Steve), Nancy Hawks (Stephen), David Sneed (Rennie Marie), Mary Voss, and John Sneed (Dawn), grandchildren Torrey Moss (Renee), Taylor Moss, Kelli Brown (Kyle), Miranda Hawks, Mary Catherine Hawks, John Kokoszka, Bella Wyffels, Ava Wyffels and Abigail Sneed and great grandchildren Fischer and Snowden Moss and Halden, Adler and Arden Brown. He also has a host of nieces and nephews, a few of whom might have a spare watch if you need one. He is preceded in death by his first wife Jean (Zahuranec), the mother of his children, his second wife Jean Sneed, and his parents, Lester Mathews Sneed and Dora Mangels Sneed, his brothers Edgar Morris Sneed, Lester Mathews Sneed, Henry Micou Sneed and his sister Mary Sneed Voss. A funeral mass will be celebrated on Friday, February 21, 2025 at 11:00 o’clock in the morning at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 2718 Overbrook Dr., Raleigh, NC 27608. Reception following mass in the Falon Center. All are welcome. In lieu of flowers or donations, our father wants us all to go out of our way to do something extra special for someone each day. Plant a seed of love and watch it grow. Speaking of doing something extra special, we would like to thank Heartland Hospice (Reagan, Angela, and Diedre) for the exceptional care they gave us in supporting our father in his last few weeks, and Pat Sherry in Naples Florida, our father’s very special friend - among many friends he made everywhere he went.