Donald C. Snow
September,1969 to April 24,1996

Donald was born in Germany at a military hospital, since his father was stationed there by the US Army. I used to say that only Donald would be born on Labor Day (Septemer 1st). There was only one doctor available becasue of the holiday, and there were 3 babies on the way. Donald came last. When he was little, he was diagnosed with Disagammagobulinanemia, which is a very rare type of blood disorder. Only a few cases of this were know in the country at the time. Before the age of 5, he was hospitalized over 20 times. As he grew older, despite his illness, he excelled at school. He was tested and found to be gifted, and he was placed in advanced programs. He participated in Olympics of the Mind and attended special mangnet schools to enhance his abilities. And his computer was his world! He even taught some of his teachers a thing or two! He was even suspended for hacking into computer systems he should not have been in. He was so smart he attended Temple Univ before he even graduated high school. Donald attended Carnegie Mellon Univ in Pittsburg for 2 years, then became too ill to stay. He returned to Philadelaphia. After his health improved, he entered Rutger's Univ in Camden, NJ. He graduated from Rutger's in 1993 with a computer science degree, and in no time he started his first "real" job at Hahnamman Univ Hospital in Philadelphia working as a systems analyst in the radiation/oncology department. Much of his work helped cancer patients, enhancing the techniques of how cancerous tumors are eliminated with radiation treatment. Some of the activities he was involved with in college were fencing, juggling, and Society for Creative Anachronism, where he was known as Gaston D'Amberville. He went to Penzic for "war games". He was getting healthier at this point, until he was infected with Hepatitis C from a contaminated batch of medicine he received. This caused his fragile health to deteriorate. His immune system was no longer strong enough to combat any illnesses that he encountered. He developed PCP, the most severe type of Pneumonia that AIDS patients often get. This epidode weakend his already damaged lungs to the point that they could no longer function well enough to sustain life. With Mom, Dad, and many friends at his side, we said good-bye to him on April 24th, 1996. He was burried with a fencing award given to him by a friend and a Star Trek captain's manual from his step-dad. Donald still gets balloons on the holidays. There is even a star named after him in the International Star Registry. There is a scholarship in his name granted each year to a student from the high school he attended. Through these things we hope that Donald will live on. All of his family and friends miss him very much and think of him often. Many thanks to the Compassionate Friends for all their love and support!


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