I got the day wrong - here's the original note from Kerry Blech, an old time mine of information, on the old time newsgroup:

I received a note last last night from Mark Wilson. He said that
Paul Smith had called to say that Owen "Snake" Chapman had
passed away, after a lengthy illness, on Wednesday night,
October 29. His funeral is tomorrow, Saturday, November 1,
presumably in Canada, Kentucky or thereabouts. Sorry, I
don't have any other information. Snake will be missed not
only for his great fiddling but for his fantastic nature and
friendliness.
-Kerry

Ray