1992 Roar R. L. Turner High School Carrollton, Dallas Co., Texas Junior Class

 

MEMORIAL A ‘dream’ come true By Senitra Horbrook, Staff Write Carrollton native publishes first novel R.L. Turner High School alumnus Allison Harris Ludwig believes most people will relate to her recently published book Picasso Dream. “Anybody who has ever lost someone suddenly, young or tragic, it’s the whole journey you go through when you’re shocked by the grief process,” said Ludwig. “A lot of people relate to it from being in the military and also anybody who has ever had a dark period in their life.” Picasso Dream was inspired by the devastating heartbreak and subsequent guilt Ludwig experienced during her senior year of high school. Ludwig’s friend, Sophia Alicia Snodgres, died in a car accident in Plano, as she returned from interviewing the band Material Issue for the school newspaper in the early morning of Oct. 3 1992. “I was supposed to be with Sophia, but I had to cheer at a football game that night,” Ludwig said. Ludwig met Snodgres at a dance school in Carrollton and they discovered they both attended DeWitt Perry Middle School. Ludwig described Snodgres as a champion for the underdog; who saw potential in so many of the intellectually blessed, yet socially awkward, teens. “At DeWitt Perry I was geeky, didn’t know how to dress (and) very shy,” Ludwig said. “She was very outgoing. She was in theater. She did plays in Dallas. We ended up in dance class together in Carrollton and she kind of took me under her wing, gave me a lot of confidence. She inspired me to also go into theater. “By the time we got to ninth grade I was a completely different person. It wasn’t just me she did that with. She always was the first one to make others comfortable. She was somebody really special. I was sure she was going to be famous.” Ludwig and Snodgres planned to go to either New York City or Chicago to pursue dual dreams after high school. Snodgres was the actress and Ludwig was the writer. After Snodgres’ death, Ludwig said she was unable to focus on superficial things and went into a downward spiral. “A week or two after she died I won homecoming queen,” Ludwig said. “It was impossible for me to be happy about that.” Ludwig left Turner in November, completing her senior year of high school through correspondence. After graduation, Ludwig went to University of Texas at Dallas for a year. “I was so depressed. I drank way too much,” she said. “I joined the Air Force. The military made things worse; I was running away from the grief.” Ludwig eventually discovered she had a medical condition that was actually making her more depressed than normal and said she got on medication six or seven years ago. Now, at age 33, Ludwig is a married, mother of two girls and works full time as a registered nurse, but a break in her career led to the publication of Picasso Dream. “Most of this book I wrote when I was 16 or 17,” she said. “I had a break from nursing while my husband was going to Border Patrol training. I finished it while he was in school.” Ludwig said Picasso Dream is a tale of what could have happened to her if she hadn’t improved her life. “Everything is fictional. It’s a creepy, dark story. The female character, Joanna, is an exaggerated version of me at the darkest point of my life,” Ludwig said. “She ends up joining the military as a way to escape and blend in, be invisible. She ends up getting into drugs and alcohol … crossing paths with another dark person named Bruce, who is even darker than her. She feels like when her friend died she was supposed to be with her. She felt like she was supposed to die too.” Ludwig shopped her manuscript around to some agents, but eventually decided to go the self-publishing route. The book’s cover was done by another Turner alumnus, Shane Clevenger of Beanstock Advertising, class of 1992. The book’s title, Picasso Dream has special meaning to Ludwig. “That’s a phrase Sophia made up,” she said. “I was spending the night at her house and she said she had a Picasso dream about me, where body parts from her and me were all intermingled. Our lives had become intertwined and I kept thinking what did she mean by that?” Ludwig is currently working on her second novel, which she said will be a medical drama. Ludwig resides in East Texas, but will soon be moving to Corpus Christi for her husband’s job with the U.S. Border Patrol. Picasso Dream is available for sale online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all major online book retailers. For information, visit picassodream.com.

 

OBITUARY SNODGRES SOPHIA ALICIA, age 17, of Carrollton, passed away October 10, 1992. She is survived by her mother & step-father, Alicia Z. & Mario Marroquin of Carrollton; her father, Paul Snodgres of DeSoto; brother, Jeffery P. Snodgres of Carrollton; step-brothers, Mario A. Marroquin of Carrollton and Vince Marroquin of Hawaii; step-sisters Laura Marroquin of Spokane, WA, Carmen Marroquin of Alice, TX, Teresa Irvin & her husband, Kevin of Little Elm; maternal grandparents, Gabriel Zavala, Sr. & Amalia Zavala of Robstown, TX; paternal grandmother, Betty Howard of Missouri; paternal grandfather, Joseph Snodgres of Dallas; numerous aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. Prayer Service and Funeral Mass will begin 4;30 P.M. Monday, October 12, 1992, MARY IMMACULATE CATHOLIC CHURCH with Rev. Leon Duesman, celebrant. committal service will follow at Hilltop Memorial Park Chapel Mausoleum. METROCREST FUNERAL HOME - 1810 N. Perry Rd. Carrollton The Dallas Morning News - Monday, October 12, 1992 Submitted by Edward Lynn Williams

 

SOPHIA ALICIA SNODGRES 1975 - 1992 Hilltop Memorial Park, Carrollton, Dallas County, Texas

Notes:

• In Memoriam - R. L. Turner High School - Class of 1993