Post by Steve on Sept 27, 2011 8:40:44 GMT 8
Mr. Robert "Bob" Snyder, 87, of 6157 US Highway 221 South, Blowing Rock, died Tuesday morning, September 20, 2011, at Blowing Rock Hospital.
Robert "Bob" Snyder was born in 1924 in Carrick, Pennsylvania, to Lela and T.R. Snyder.
Bob attended school in Ferguson, NC, Philadelphia, PA, and Bethesda, MD, where he was an active Boy Scout and Sea Scout. In 1943, he left Woodrow Wilson High School to enlist in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. After certification at Walter Reed Army Hospital as a Surgical Technician, he was assigned to the 29th Independent Medical Platoon, with whom he saw service in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and the United Kingdom. He then volunteered for duty as a Parachute Infantryman and graduated from the U.S. Army Parachute School at Fort Benning, GA, in November 1944, whereupon he was assigned to the 503rd Airborne Regimental Combat Team as a rifleman. He saw combat service in New Guinea and the Philippines, to include the airborne assault to recapture Corregidor Island in February, 1945. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for combat actions on Negros Island. After the surrender of Japan, he was assigned to the 11th Airborne Division, with whom he performed occupation duty near Sendai, Japan until the end of 1945.
He attended American University in Washington, DC after the war and worked first as a radio announcer in Florence, SC, before joining the Gorham Silver Company as a representative for the Southeast. He eventually became a plant manager for the Blue Ridge Shoe company in Boone, NC, Mountain City, TN, and Tifton, GA. He then joined Electronic Data Control of Winston-Salem, NC, where he became Vice President responsible for the roofing nail division.
In Blowing Rock, NC, he led the efforts to fund and construct the American Legion Hall and was a Deacon at Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church.
He was an active member of the Republican party since 1946, serving as the Florence County Chairman of "South Carolinians for Eisenhower" and was a delegate to the first State Republican Convention to be held in South Carolina since the Civil War. He was later Republican Precinct Chairman for Blowing Rock, NC, and Clemmons, NC, and worked on various political campaigns of Republican Congressional, Senatorial, and Gubernatorial candidates. He was also a member of the NC GOP 5th District Executive Committee. His favorite sayings were, "Fly your flag," and "Vote GOP."
After retirement, he returned to Blowing Rock, NC, with his wife, Shirley. He was an avid gardener and loved the outdoors.
Above all, he was proud to be a citizen of the United States of America.
Mr. Snyder is survived by his wife, Shirley A. Snyder, of the home; two sons, Karson Snyder and wife, Yumiko, of Geneva, Switzerland, and Matthew Snyder of Blowing Rock; one grandson, Kai Snyder of Geneva, Switzerland; and one sister-in-law, Audrey Snyder of Ogunquit, Maine. He is also survived by two nieces and two nephews.
He was preceded in death by his father and mother, Col. T.R. Snyder Sr. and Lela "Andy" Snyder; one brother, Col. T.R. Snyder Jr.; and one nephew, T.R. Snyder III.
Funeral services for Mr. Snyder will be conducted 2 p.m. Monday, September 26, 2011, at Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church. The body will lie in state, at the church, from 1 p.m. until 2 p.m. Military graveside rites and burial will follow in Woodlawn Cemetery in Blowing Rock.
The family will receive friends 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday at Hampton Funeral Service.
Robert "Bob" Snyder was born in 1924 in Carrick, Pennsylvania, to Lela and T.R. Snyder.
Bob attended school in Ferguson, NC, Philadelphia, PA, and Bethesda, MD, where he was an active Boy Scout and Sea Scout. In 1943, he left Woodrow Wilson High School to enlist in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. After certification at Walter Reed Army Hospital as a Surgical Technician, he was assigned to the 29th Independent Medical Platoon, with whom he saw service in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and the United Kingdom. He then volunteered for duty as a Parachute Infantryman and graduated from the U.S. Army Parachute School at Fort Benning, GA, in November 1944, whereupon he was assigned to the 503rd Airborne Regimental Combat Team as a rifleman. He saw combat service in New Guinea and the Philippines, to include the airborne assault to recapture Corregidor Island in February, 1945. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for combat actions on Negros Island. After the surrender of Japan, he was assigned to the 11th Airborne Division, with whom he performed occupation duty near Sendai, Japan until the end of 1945.
He attended American University in Washington, DC after the war and worked first as a radio announcer in Florence, SC, before joining the Gorham Silver Company as a representative for the Southeast. He eventually became a plant manager for the Blue Ridge Shoe company in Boone, NC, Mountain City, TN, and Tifton, GA. He then joined Electronic Data Control of Winston-Salem, NC, where he became Vice President responsible for the roofing nail division.
In Blowing Rock, NC, he led the efforts to fund and construct the American Legion Hall and was a Deacon at Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church.
He was an active member of the Republican party since 1946, serving as the Florence County Chairman of "South Carolinians for Eisenhower" and was a delegate to the first State Republican Convention to be held in South Carolina since the Civil War. He was later Republican Precinct Chairman for Blowing Rock, NC, and Clemmons, NC, and worked on various political campaigns of Republican Congressional, Senatorial, and Gubernatorial candidates. He was also a member of the NC GOP 5th District Executive Committee. His favorite sayings were, "Fly your flag," and "Vote GOP."
After retirement, he returned to Blowing Rock, NC, with his wife, Shirley. He was an avid gardener and loved the outdoors.
Above all, he was proud to be a citizen of the United States of America.
Mr. Snyder is survived by his wife, Shirley A. Snyder, of the home; two sons, Karson Snyder and wife, Yumiko, of Geneva, Switzerland, and Matthew Snyder of Blowing Rock; one grandson, Kai Snyder of Geneva, Switzerland; and one sister-in-law, Audrey Snyder of Ogunquit, Maine. He is also survived by two nieces and two nephews.
He was preceded in death by his father and mother, Col. T.R. Snyder Sr. and Lela "Andy" Snyder; one brother, Col. T.R. Snyder Jr.; and one nephew, T.R. Snyder III.
Funeral services for Mr. Snyder will be conducted 2 p.m. Monday, September 26, 2011, at Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church. The body will lie in state, at the church, from 1 p.m. until 2 p.m. Military graveside rites and burial will follow in Woodlawn Cemetery in Blowing Rock.
The family will receive friends 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday at Hampton Funeral Service.