Harold “Hal” Snow, Warrenton’s city attorney who died Thursday in Portland at age 75, was known for his exemplary legal mind, generosity of spirit and dedication to his community.

The cause of death was not immediately available.

Snow and his wife, Jeanyse, were partners in Snow & Snow, a law firm on Commercial Street that traces back to the 1960s. For many years, Snow also served as the city attorney of Astoria.

“Hal was a real dean of the legal community in Astoria,” Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis said. “He and his wife, Jeanyse, were real giants in the Clatsop County bar.

“And were particularly helpful to me when I was appointed back in 1994 at a very turbulent time in the history of the state bar. He is going to be dearly missed by everybody.”

Blair Henningsgaard, Astoria’s current city attorney, said Snow’s passing “certainly leaves a huge hole in the legal community here.”

“It’s pretty much an end of an era for the longest running law firm in the area,” Henningsgaard said. “But it’s a real sad day for all the lawyers who worked with Hal and knew him. He was a real gentleman and a fine attorney.”

Since 1970, Snow was the city attorney of Warrenton.

“Hal was such a great support to the city of Warrenton — really loved the city of Warrenton,” Linda Engbretson, Warrenton’s city manager, said. “He was a great mentor and support to me.”

Warrenton Mayor Mark Kujala, who was “shocked and saddened” to hear the news, said, “Our hearts are very heavy right now.”

Snow, Kujala said, left his handprint on many institutions on the North Coast, and his influence is felt throughout the region. Snow’s friends describe him as a private, humble man who, along with his family, quietly supported beloved organizations such as the Liberty Theater, the Astoria Riverfront Trolley, the Friends of the Astoria Column and the Columbia River Maritime Museum.

“Hal helped such a wide range of people and activities in Astoria,” Former Astoria Mayor Willis Van Dusen said.

Steve Forrester, The Daily Astorian’s former editor and publisher who sits on the Liberty’s board of directors, said, “When we set out to restore the Liberty Theater, we were really in uncharted waters, and Hal was a very clear head through all of it, and quite essential to making it happen.”

Snow, a major donor to local athletic programs, was the prime mover in the creation of the Lower Columbia Youth Soccer Association and the Warrenton soccer fields.

He also served on the Oregon Community Foundation board, including a stint as president, and helped to bring grants and other charitable funds into Clatsop County.

“Every small town relies on people like Hal Snow. With common sense, intelligence, energy and personal commitment, these people are essential to community building,” Forrester said in an email. “In his central roles with the Liberty Theater’s restoration, the Astoria Column’s restoration and the creation of the Youth Soccer League, Hal greatly enlarged the civic furniture of Astoria and the Columbia-Pacific region.”

Daryl Birney, Snow’s longtime friend, said Snow, who preferred to eschew the limelight, “did more for the community, probably, than the community knows about.”

Jordan Schnitzer, a Portland philanthropist and president of the Friends of the Astoria Column board who worked with Hal for more than 30 years, said, “In a generation where, today, everyone is so me-oriented, he was always we-oriented.”

Because of Snow’s deep knowledge of the law and local matters, his colleagues in municipal government sought him not just for his legal counsel but for his wisdom, according to Gil Gramson, a former Warrenton city manager and city commissioner.

“We had so much confidence in his advice,” Gramson said.

Snow, an Astoria High School and University of Oregon law school graduate, and his wife specialized in handling wills, trusts, real estate and land use planning.

“‘Hal and Jeanyse’… When you said one, you might as well include the other, because they were a team,” Gramson said.

A devoted “Duck” who loved his family and cared for his employees, Snow never forgot his roots, and never forgot his friends.

“Rarely in life does one meet someone who just exemplifies integrity, honesty, charm, incredible intelligence, packaged with a personality who made everyone else feel important,” Schnitzer said. “He, in my opinion, just overflowed with the kind of human qualities that I know I wished I could have had more of, and I think everyone that met him felt the same way. He was principled, thoughtful, and always broke into the most effusive grin and smile when something was funny. I’ve never met anyone who hasn’t put him on a pedestal.

“I think, for all of us who knew him and were close to him the loss is huge. He is irreplaceable,” Schnitzer continued. “But at least we were all blessed with having known and worked with him for many years, and therefore he will live on forever, not just in his role of helping preserve and maintain the Column but in our hearts and minds. I know that, for me, there will never be a time when I go up to the Column that I won’t think about his guiding hand helping us through one issue after another over the last 28 years.”

Snow, Van Dusen said, “will be missed for a long time. Astoria is a better town because of Hal Snow.”