THE PEOPLE SENTINEL

Gara Snead remembered for her heart for others

Jonathan Vickery
jvickery@thepeoplesentinel.com
Gara Snead, pictured here with her granddaughter, could often be found working in her yard or doing a project on her historic home in Barnwell. [Contributed Photo]

Gara Gause Snead had a heart of gold and poured her heart into the community she loved.

The Charleston native was born on April 3, 1958 and died on August 25, 2019 at the age of 61. She earned a degree in horticulture while working as a full-time waitress in her thirties and raising her only son as a single mother. She moved to Barnwell several years ago after falling in love with a historic Main Street home as she passed through town.

“Gara had no family in Barnwell, but to her the Barnwell community was her family. She will be greatly missed,” said Denmark resident Lynnell Zissette.

The two ladies met in September 2018 after Zissette opened her store, Lynnell’s Gifts & Home Decor, on Main Street in Barnwell, right across the street from Snead’s home.

An immediate friendship was born.

“She would always make sure if I needed anything since I couldn’t close to go eat. We became so close. I consider Gara the sister I never had,” said Zissette.

Snead started coming to Safe Haven Outreach, a ministry for the homeless and others in need that Zissette and her husband Daryl helped start in downtown Barnwell.

“She would bring clothes and food to the store and when anyone in need passed the store she and I would stop them and minister to them,” Zissette said.

Snead helped Safe Haven purchase school supplies and volunteered at the prayer tent during the second annual Community Outreach and Evangelism Event held on August 17 at Veterans Memorial Park in Barnwell.

Snead is also remembered for having a knack at finding a good deal, especially at the Pick of the Litter Thrift Store and Barnwell First Baptist Church Bargain Sale.

She loved people and never met a stranger, but also loved bringing her historic home back to life, one project at a time.

“Residents passing by would usually see Gara working in the yard with her flowers and cutting grass with a push mower. She poured so much energy into her home. She was in the process of putting down a new floor on the front porch where she herself screwed the nails in. She would jump on a ladder, crawl under her house. If she didn’t know how to fix something, she would go to the Barnwell County Library and get on the computer to learn how to fix it. Gara made many friends at the library,” said Zissette, who also remembers her friend as a “voracious reader, writer of beautiful letters and a student of the Bible.”

Though she had dreams to bring her house back to life and continue to invest her time and energy into the community she adopted in her later years, Snead passed away on August 25 due to heart failure.

The public is invited to a celebration of Snead’s life on Sunday, Sept. 15 at 11 a.m. at Safe Haven Outreach, located across from the Barnwell Post Office.