Fighter, Founder Father

By Marshall Snipes and Bob Burke

Fresh out of the United States Army Air Force in 1946, Al Snipes came to Oklahoma City to collect a debt. His plan was to return home to North Carolina—60 years later Oklahoma remains his home.

The stage for Al’s life was a boxing ring in Oklahoma City’s historic Municipal Auditorium in the 1940s, starting a family in the midst of business struggles in the 1950s, the transformation of the Republican Party in the 1960s, the formation of the South Oklahoma City Junior College, currently Oklahoma City Community College, in the 1970s, and his position as elder statesman in the organizations in which he has participated in the last 60 years. This is a remarkable story of a man with vision, passion, tenacity, and the energy to make a lasting impact on his community and state.