While Eleanor Towner Snow made her mark as a successful businesswoman, she is perhaps best remembered for her commitment to her community. Eleanor was devoted to her family, community and the well-being of others. Eleanor Towner Snow was born in Middletown on July 27, 1924.
Mrs. Snow and her husband Herbert Snow, for decades operated two of downtown Middletown’s most successful stores- Carson and Towner, a fashion and domestic department store, and Hanford & Horton Company, an office supply and equipment shop.
Eleanor Snow’s list of volunteer activities is long: She was a past president of the Southwinds Retirement Home, Inc., the Middletown Chamber of Commerce, the United Way of Orange County and the Junior League of Orange County. She served as a board member of Homemaker Services of Orange County, Inc. and the Sarah Wells Girl Scout Council for 30 years. She also helped organize the 50th anniversary reunion of the Middletown High School Class of 1942.
A fashion project that Mrs. Snow completed in 1944 while studying at Manhattan’s Tobe-Coburn School of Fashion Merchandising was installed as a permanent exhibit at the New York Public Library. The project includes 450 illustrations documenting clothing styles from ancient Crete through 1940.
Following Eleanor’s death in September 1997, the Eleanor T. Snow Radiation Oncology Center was dedicated to the memory of this popular Middletown native by her loving husband Mr. Herbert Snow on February 25, 1999.