Terri Snethen

On Friday, January 7, 2022, Terri Snethen, a loving wife and mother of two children, went home to her Lord at the age of 53 due to complications from COVID pneumonia.  She leaves behind her husband of 32 years, Jeff Snethen, and her son, Colter Snethen and his wife, Claire, and her daughter, Austin (Snethen) Perryman and her husband, Clarence.

Terri was born on August 30, 1968 in Kansas City, Missouri, to Robert and Shirley Irwin.  She graduated from Truman High School in Independence, Missouri, and started college.  While working her way through school at a bridal shop, she was introduced to the man she would marry by the woman who would become her mother-in-law on the day before Thanksgiving, 1987.  They went on their first date on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  They were married on June 24, 1989 and moved to St. Louis, Missouri where they started to make their life together.

Being a stay-at-home mother was Terri’s passion for her family, raising them in her home town, Independence, Missouri.  After her kids grew up, she turned her passion to writing.  She always had stories in her head and she decided that it was time to write them down.  Her dream of being a writer came to fruition when she was a premier author for a new mystery publisher and her first book, “Diners, Dives & Dead Ends” was published under her pen name, Terri L. Austin.

Her passion for writing down the stories in her head continued to grow.  She wanted to be a writer who wrote what she liked to read, so she also decided to write romance and paranormal romance genres.  Her first romance ended up at Barnes & Noble on the endcap, and was runner up in the Romantic Times award in 2015.  Terri also decided that she should try all avenues to learn all she could, and started to publish her paranormal romance series herself in 2016.  Although numerous life events prevented her from writing as fast as she wanted, she continued to write and was working on another installment of her mystery series.  She loved her characters and they made her laugh when they did something she didn’t expect.  It was always an exciting ride for Terri while creating a wonderful world for her characters to roam.

In 2019, Jeff found a new job close to good friends, and they moved to Shalimar, Florida, where she would continue working on her career as well.  Besides her writing, she loved all things crafty.  She loved to spend time with her friends beading, or scrapping, or anything that might make something sparkle a little more.  She also loved all kinds of reality TV shows.  She loved to watch people and explore their characters to understand why they did the things they did.  She had an infectious laugh that was always pleasing to hear, and would look for the good in people, as she seldom found someone who wasn’t interesting in some way.

Terri was preceded in death by her father and her brother, Michael Gulotta.

In lieu of flowers, Terri’s family requests donations be made to either St. Jude Children’s Hospital, or Samaritan’s Purse, as she loved giving to them as well.

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