Abigail Grace Snipes, a lifelong resident of Yucca Valley, died from cancer Feb. 19, 2016, at Loma Linda. She was 13 years old. The daughter of Ricky and Angela Snipes, she was born Nov. 6, 2002, in Palm Springs. She was a seventh-grade student with the I.C.E. program through La Contenta Middle School. Abigail loved horses, arts and crafts, drawing and spending time with family and friends. She is survived by her parents, Ricky and Angela Snipes, and her sisters, Hailey and Makenna Snipes, all of Yucca Valley; her grandmother, Diane Dillard, of Yucca Valley; her grandparents Darrel and Sherry Dillard, of Reno, Nevada, and Tamra and Jeff Licha, of Edom, Texas; her aunts and uncles, Ann and Jake Rogers, of Yucca Valley, April and Jeremy Leavenworth, of Yucca Valley, Amie and B.J. Olivares, of Edom, Texas, Jeremy and Jennifer Licha, of New Jersey, and uncle Paul Snipes, of Edom, Texas; her great-grandparents, Dorothy and Danny Dike, of Edom, Texas; and her cousins, Savannah and Sierra Rogers, of Yucca Valley, Katelynn Leavenworth, of Yucca Valley, Allie and Elijah Olivares, of Edom, Texas, Arlien Casillas, of Reno, Nevada, and Jamie, Jaelynn, Joanie Licha, of New Jersey. A funeral service will be held at noon Saturday, Feb. 27, at Gateway Assembly of God Church in Yucca Valley. Graveside services will follow at Joshua Tree Memorial Park. Donations may be made to Abigail's GoFundMe account and/or The Debbie Chisholm Foundation. (as printed from the Hi-Desert Star) Abigail, we will miss your smile, your sassy attitude, your sense of humor, your eye for fashion, your generosity and caring for others and most of all we will just miss loving you. How lucky we all were to have you a part of our lives. Until we see you again. We love you. Love, your family. Abigail Snipes had a tough start to her young life as she dealt with illness from the time she was a baby. After many surgeries, she was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis, a genetically distinct disorder that causes tumors to grow in the nervous system. In 2015, a tumor that was growing on her neck was diagnosed as cancer, but Abigail and her family continued to battle the disease. Friday morning, Abigail's battle came to an end. Some of her family members shared some of their fondest memories of their 13 years with Abigail. "One day I was watching my granddaughters Abigail, Sierra and Hailey and I saw them walking around with toilet paper in their tops and a baby doll under their shirts. They were playing house and were all pregnant…. They had so much fun together, they were so creative and loved playing with each other." — Abigail's grandma, Diane Dillard "Abigail loved life. She was always smiling and ready to give a hug no matter how she was feeling. She was so generous and caring and loved spending time with her family and friends. Abigail was the artist in the family and one year for Christmas she drew each of us our own portrait. She loved and cared for everyone she knew." — Abigail's aunt Ann Rogers "We always had an incredibly huge bond. I was eight months older than Abigail and we only got to know each other for 13 years. We had 13 wonderful, funny, sad, happy and super fun years together. When I wasn't feeling good she would always make a joke to try and make me laugh. It always worked." — Abigail's cousin Sierra Rogers "I don't even know where to start with this sweet girl. I am honored I got to spend as much time as I did with her. Abigail was the toughest, smartest, brightest, most loving, caring, helpful and most of all, bravest person I ever knew. She was the type of person that would give you the shirt off her back and do anything and everything to make you feel loved." — Abigail's cousin Savannah Rogers