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Obituary (AL): John Edward Snyder '47

Posted on 01/28/2020

Capt. John Edward Snyder, USN (Ret), age 93 of Huntsville, Alabama passed peacefully into the hands of the Lord after a brief illness on Tuesday, March 10, 2020 with his daughter Julie at his side. John was born March 16, 1926 in New York City to John Irwin and Margaret Connelly Snyder. John's ninth great-grandparents were John Howland Sr. and Elizabeth Tilley who left England on the Mayflower to settle in Plymouth, Massachusetts. During that voyage there was a turbulent storm during which John Howland fell overboard. He managed to grab a topsail halyard that was trailing in the water and was hauled back aboard safely. John Howland was the thirteenth man to sign the Mayflower Compact on November 11, 1620. A fifth great-grandfather was Martinus Snyder who emigrated from Hachenburg, Germany to Ulster, New York in 1723. Martinus and many of his sons served in the revolutionary war. John grew up in New York City and Connecticut and attended Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts. He subsequently attended The US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland and graduated with the class of 1947. He attended flight training in Pensacola and Galveston and was an Instructor at the Naval Academy for one year. He spent time on the USS Great Sitkin (AE-17). During flight training he attained his carrier landing certificate. He subsequently flew the US Navy Martin P5M Marlin twin engine "flying boat", a low flying submarine hunter/bomber sea plane. During the Korean war he was stationed at US NAS North Island in Coronado, California and was deployed to Alaska, Japan, and Korea, receiving the Air Medal for his service. John attended the Naval postgraduate school in Monterey, California and attained his master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After active duty, Captain Snyder remained in the Naval Reserves until 1986, achieving 30 years of service in the Navy. He was in a leadership role in the Reserve Officers association for many years. His career and activities in the Navy were his great passion in life along with his career as an aeronautical engineer. He and his wife Pat also volunteered for the Coast Guard Auxiliary for many years. Subsequent to his discharge from active duty he joined the Boeing Company in Wichita, Kansas. He moved to Huntsville, Alabama where he worked on the burgeoning Apollo space program for 13 years. On his return to Wichita with Boeing he was a program manager in charge of boom modifications for the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker military aerial refueling aircraft. John met the love of his life, Patricia Imelda Kearns at his grandfather John Connelly's Peninsula House Beach Club in Sea Bright, New Jersey. They married on December 22, 1949 at Saint Helena's Church New York City and had a long marriage of 70 years. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, golf, their dogs, and the many RV trips they took with friends. John is survived by his daughter, Julie Broyles, M.D.; son-in-law, Rande; grandchildren, Cody Jacob, Hannah Lian, and Matthew Van Duong Broyles of Albuquerque, New Mexico; and daughter Barbara Jean McCormick, of Tennessee. Visitation and music will be from 1:00 to 2:00 pm on Monday, March 16, 2020 at Laughlin Service Funeral Home. The memorial service will immediately follow in the chapel with Father Michael Mac Mahon officiating. Inurnment will be at the United States Naval Academy Columbarium in Annapolis, Maryland. (www.Laughlinservice.com) The family respectfully requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made to a favorite charity.

Published in The Huntsville Times on Mar. 13, 2020