Robert L.S. Snyder
Mr. Robert L.S. 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.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests
that you consider donations to either the Boy Scouts of America, or
to the Whippoorwill Academy Historical Village at, Whippoorwill
Village, 11928 NC Hwy 268, West Ferguson, NC 28624.
Online condolences may be sent to the
Snyder family at http://www.hamptonfuneralnc.com
Hampton Funeral and Cremation service
is in charge of the arrangements.