Widow pleads for missing urn’s return

EL DORADO — An unusual burial urn for an El Dorado resident was reported stolen from a local church after the memorial service.

The urn, which was meant to depict and celebrate the “American cowboy life” that was lived by Grady Snowden Jr., had been purchased by Snowden’s wife, Thomasine, to hold Snowden’s remains. According to information provided to the News-Times by Snowden’s family members, the urn was placed at the altar of the First Baptist Church-Cordell during the memorial service last month.

But after the memorial service’s family processional, the urn was missing. Snowden’s wife asked that if anyone saw someone take the urn or knew of its location, they report it to the El Dorado Police Department or have it anonymously returned to the church.

“To the individual who stole the urn from the altar of the church which belongs to the wife of a deceased veteran, I am hoping that you will appeal to the depths of your own soul, do the right thing and return the urn to the church and to its rightful owner,” Thomasine Snowden wrote in a document provided to the News-Times.

According to the obituary for Snowden, which was published in the News-Times on Dec. 1, he served in the U.S. Army for three years during the Vietnam War and was severely injured. He was described in the obituary as “an accomplished cattleman, outdoorsman and cowboy at heart.”