Posted on 03/12/2018
Gary Lawson Snyder died on 6 March 2018 in Lancaster, PA. He was 85 years old. Gary was born to Edra (Lewis) Snyder and Wayne Anthony Snyder in Buffalo, New York, on January 16, 1933. He was the husband of Marguerite Reverdy Snyder, with who he shared 60 years of marriage. Gary is preceded in death by his son, Gary L. Snyder, Jr of Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He is survived by his wife, a son, Glenn R Snyder of Fairfax, Virginia, a daughter, Marguerite (Snyder) Patzer of Norwell, Massachusetts, and 9 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. Gary graduated from the Indiana High School, Indiana, PA, in 1950. While a senior he competed for and won an appointment to The United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, graduating in 1955 becoming a Surface Warfare Officer. He later became part of the United Sates Navy Nuclear Power Program training at Idaho Falls, Idaho and Saratoga Springs, New York. Following his naval service, he joined the staff of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Plum Brook Reactor Facility in Sandusky, Ohio, where he conducted research and development in Space Nuclear Power. He later served with the United States Atomic Energy Commission, (later the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission), in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, fulfilling senior roles regulating the Nuclear Power Industry in the United States. Following government service Gary joined Gilbert Associates in Reading PA and later founded Coventry Security Systems, installing security systems, selling the company in 1997. Gary and Margo then extensively traveled North America while living full time in their recreational vehicle for many years and later settled in Willow Valley Communities in Lancaster, PA in 2007. Gary is a member of Boehms United Methodist Church, in Willow Street, PA. Interment of his ashes in the Columbarium at the United States Naval Academy is planned at a later date.
Published in The Mercury on Mar. 10, 2018