Ely Twp. - John Harry Snell, age 75 of 977 Co. Rd. CJ, Champion (Ely Twp), died Wednesday, November 30, 2016 on his way to UP Health System Marquette of an aneurism.

Harry was born April 6, 1941 in Humboldt to Harry and Myrtle Rhea (Beatty) Snell. As a teen he worked for Arnold Keskitalo at the Evergreen Drive In. He also worked for Dow Chemical and at K.I. Sawyer. In 1965 he started at the Republic Mine and worked there until it closed. Then he went to the Tilden and Empire Mines where he had several jobs but mainly as a heavy equipment mechanic until his retirement in 1997.

For the first 10 years of his retirement he built dressers, entertainment centers, etc for the family. The last 10 years he has been restoring "basket case" tractors, which were his pride and joy. Harry was a very talented man- he built several houses, doing all the work and could fix anything and everything. He was the family "go-to" guy. From taking leaves to the dump to hooking up a 3-way switch, he was always willing to help and never said "no".

Harry is survived by his wife Jo Ann (Juchemich) Snell, whom he married on December 8, 1962, 3 children; Lynn (Jerry) Ylitalo, Harry (Tammy Moore) Snell, Scott (Debra Pohlman) Snell all of Ely Twp, 6 grandchildren; Gerald (Kelly Hytinen) Snell, Jessica (Nicholas) Mills, Joshua Snell- serving in the US Army in Alaska, Sarah Ylitalo, Emily (Geoffrey) Blandford, and John Ylitalo, 3 great grandchildren: Hayden, Brennen and Noah Mills, 5 sisters; Ida Rochon, Shirley (Carl) Dehner, Myrtle Hautamaki, Marcelline Treloar, Nancy (Anthony) Misale of IL, 3 brothers; William (Barbara Elliott) Snell, Joseph (Memory Eman) Snell and Larry Snell, along with numerous nieces and nephews. Harry was preceded in death by his parents Harry & Rhea Snell, and 4 sisters; Carol Rochon, Clara Dube, Ruby Tuttila and Lois Jandreau.

Harry's family will greet relatives and friends from 11:00am-1:00 pm on Tuesday, December 6, 2016 at the Wesley United Methodist Church in Ishpeming where funeral services will be held at 1:00pm on Tuesday, with Pastor JJ Mannschreck officiating. Interment will take place at Northland Chapel Gardens.

A potluck luncheon will be held in the church fellowship hall following the service.

Pallbearers will be William, Joseph, Larry and Gerald Snell, John and Jerry Ylitalo.

Harry's obituary may be viewed at bjorkandzhulkie.com.

The funeral service recording, when it becomes available, can be found here .