INTERN’S VIEW: Meet Des Moines Rotary Legends Jack Kniskern And Clark Snure
Clark Snure (holding blue walker), with members of the Des Moines Arts Commission.
Jack Kniskern and Clark Snure are two very interesting people – they are both members of the Des Moines Rotary Club, which has been around for 51 years, and guess what?
Jack has been a member for 50 years and Clark for 49!
Jack Kniskern poses with one of his young friends.
They are both still active members in Rotary and are the most senior members.
Jack is a retired Architect. He designed the Des Moines Mariner condominium which is at the north end of the Des Moines Marina. The nine-unit building was constructed on property left after the city acquired the tidelands in front of his family beach home to build the marina. He designed many buildings in Des Moines, such as the City Council Chamber Building and Auntie Irene’s. Jack also participates in the Rotary Dictionaries by the Dozens project which has given every third grade student in Des Moines a dictionary every year for the past five years. He was also at the Des Moines Chamber of Commerce meeting when the idea for a Des Moines festival was conceived. Later Waterland Festival was chosen as the winning name in a contest won by a Mt Rainier High School girl.
Jack got his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University off Washington and Master of Architecture degree from MIT.
Jack met Clark when he leased the back room of his office to him. They have become very close friends since.
Clark had been practicing law for over 45 years, after graduating from the University of Washington. He founded the Snure Law firm, and is now retired. He served as the secretary to the Board of Commissioners of King County Fire Protection District No. 26 for 40 years. His son Brian is also in Rotary.
Clark is also the president of the Des Moines Legacy Foundation, a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization. As a non-profit organization, the foundation is able to write grants, fundraise & distribute funds for park, recreation, and senior programs and services that benefit and enhance the Des Moines community. The goal of the Legacy Foundation is to provide services for all ages, to promote interest and leadership in charitable giving, to respond as a positive force to the challenging needs of the community and to pool assets to maintain, improve, and create community park and recreation services.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Josh Hart is our first Intern! He's also a 15-year old student at Highline's “Big Picture High School” in SeaTac. He also plays soccer.
You can read more of his writing here on sister site The B-Town Blog...]
