March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Vermont Gov. Snelling dies > 64-year-old was serving fifth term

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Gov. Richard Snelling, who pushed through the largest tax increase in state history and didn’t hesitate to take on fellow Republican Ronald Reagan, has died at the age of 64. His unexpected death thrust a Democrat, Lt. Gov. Howard Dean, into the top office.

Snelling, a Republican who served 8 1/2 years in office, died Tuesday night of massive cardiac arrest due to hardening of the arteries, said Paul Morrow, the state medical examiner.

His body was discovered by state police troopers Wednesday morning near the swimming pool at his residence in Shelburne.

Dean, 42, assumed the office of governor and will serve through the remainder of Snelling’s two-year term, which ends in January 1993.

It was the first time since 1870 that a Vermont governor has died in office.

Snelling served first from 1977-1985, winning four two-year terms. Last year, feeling the state’s fiscal house was in shambles, he returned to politics and easily won a fifth term.

His years in office were marked by tough, often unpopular stands.

As chairman of the National Governors Association, Snelling was outspoken in his criticism of President Reagan’s plans to shift spending and program responsibility onto the states.

In 1986, Snelling ran against Sen. Patrick Leahy and was trounced. But last year, with the state’s red ink mounting, Snelling ran again for governor.

This year, he pushed through the Legislature the largest tax increase in Vermont’s history to close the state’s $58 million budget deficit.

President Bush called Snelling’s death “a real shocker.”

“He was a good man, a good governor. This is a tragic loss. I salute him for his service and mourn his death,” said the president.

Former Gov. Thomas Salmon, a Democrat whom Snelling succeeded in 1977, said, “This has shocked me unlike anything else since Kennedy’s death.

“His current governorship was beginning to take on heroic proportions,” said Salmon.

Capt. Kerry Sleeper of the Vermont State Police said Snelling’s body was discovered around 8 a.m. after his state police driver failed to get a response at the governor’s door.

Snelling appeared to have been cleaning pool filters, said Chittenden County State’s Attorney William Sorrell.

The governor’s wife, Barbara, was flown home from a business trip to Buffalo, N.Y., on a plane provided by New York Gov. Mario Cuomo. The Snellings’ four children are grown and live elsewhere.

A son, Mark, said Wednesday he had just seen his father Sunday at a family dinner for a sister visiting Vermont.

“Up until today he was remarkably healthy,” Mark Snelling said.

Snelling was born in Allentown, Pa. He moved to Vermont in 1952, launching a ski equipment and hardware company in 1959. His aggressive management of the business eventually made him a millionaire, but his passion was public service.

He served in the Vermont House in the late 1950s and again in the 1970s. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1966 and then won the office for the first time 10 years later.

A funeral was scheduled for Friday at the Statehouse. The time was not set.


Have feedback? Want to know more? Send us ideas for follow-up stories.

comments for this post are closed

You may also like