Faye Atkinson Snow

Faye Atkinson Snow, 79, of Cumberland, MD, died on January 17, 2023 at Rest Assured Living Center.
She was a joyful Christian lady who endeavored to serve The Lord by developing and sharing the gifts He had given her, and by loving and nurturing those whom He had placed in her proximity and entrusted to her care.
Faye was born July 18, 1943 in Tampa, FL.
She was the daughter of the late John F. Atkinson, Sr., a pioneer electrical engineer who helped to bring electricity to rural America, and Hanna Lehto Atkinson, a consumate homemaker and loving mother.
She graduated from Wakefield High School in Arlington, VA in 1961, from Georgetown University School of Languages and Linguistics in 1965, and received her Diploma in Education for Ministry in 1981 from the University of the South, Sewanee, TN.
She studied classical ballet under Mary Day and Lisa Gardiner at The Washington School of Ballet and rose to the rank of Leading Soloist in The Washington Ballet Company in the 1950's and the early 1960's.
She taught classical ballet for many decades in Arlington and Alexandria, VA, and also in Cumberland, MD, where she was the Owner/Operator of The Snow School of Classical Ballet, and Founder and Director of The Cumberland Classical Ballet Ensemble, which participated in two world tours with her original ballet Appalachian Patchwork: a historical ballet danced to the Bluegrass music of the Appalachian mountain people.
Faye also taught French and Spanish at W. T. Woodson High School in Fairfax, VA; the Washington County, MD and Franklin and Bedford Counties, PA Mennonite Schools; and at her private Academy of Life Skills in Cumberland, MD.
Faye was also an author and fan of poetry, and for many years enjoyed reading poetry to the residence of Devlin Manor Nursing Home.
She married Dr. Paul Snow in 1965 and bore two living children: a daughter, Wendy Snow Walker, and a son Gary Atkinson Snow who died in a traffic accident at the age of 9 in 1981.
In addition to her son, Faye was preceded in death in 1996 by her sister, Dr. Betty Favre, an English professor at Frostburg State University, and in 2022 by her brother, John F. Atkinson, Jr., an electrical engineer.
In addition to her husband and daughter, Faye is survived by her granddaughter, Whitney Snow Walker of Orlando, FL; a sister-in-law, Joanne Atkinson, Mystic, CT; one nephew, Tom Atkinson and wife, Mary, Hawaii; two nieces, Amy Rada and husband Jim, sons Ben and Sam, Gettysburg, PA; Sherry Atkinson and husband Bob Cross, daughters Kary and Aislinn, Catonsville, MD.
Additional surviving relatives include: Dennis Walker, Ruth Lusby, Mary and Wadi Sawabini, Andy and Jan Ruotsala, Naomi and Doug Sokoloff-Berry, Andy and Josie Anderson, Michael Sokoloff, Phil Gang, Jay and Dianne Chandler, Dick and Jan Chandler, and Linda and Bill Hamm; and the extended families of each who are scattered all over the United States.
Other survivors include her Brothers and Sisters in The Lord from Flintstone Mennonite Church, where she was privileged to be a member; their dear children; members of The Washington County, MD and Franklin County, PA Mennonite Conference, including the many students she taught in her 50 plus years of teaching the various disciplines she enjoyed practicing: foreign languages, classical ballet, figure skating, sewing, knitting, spinning, and weaving.
Also surviving are the hundreds of school students who visited Snow Hill Farm, where Faye and Paul lived from 1976-2021, when they hosted field trips to teach children about the role of agriculture in food and clothing production.
The family will receive friends at the Upchurch Funeral Home, P.A., Cumberland, on Friday, January 20th, from 4-6 PM.
The funeral service will be held at the Flintstone Mennonite Church on Saturday, January 21st, at 1pm. Interment will follow in the family plot at the Hinkle-Snow Cemetery on Snow Hill Farm.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, January 29th, at the Cumberland Theatre, at 2pm.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Washington Ballet or Flintstone Mennonite Church.
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