Harry Edwin Snyder – Commander, United States Navy

From a contemporary press report:

Retired U.S. Navy Commander Harry Edwin Snyder, 80, of the 2100 block of Sandalwood Road,  Virginia Beach, died Sunday, March 25, 2001, at his residence after a long illness.

Commander Snyder was born September 12, 1920, in Des Moines, Iowa, to the late Harry W. Snyder and the late Beulah Gibson Snyder. He was retired from the U.S. Navy after 26 years of service and was a veteran of World War II and the Korean Conflict. Commander Snyder was a 1944 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland.

Early in his career he was one of the survivors of  the Kamikaze sinking of the USS Luce in the Philippines. He was a destroyer officer his entire career serving in various capacities aboard the USS Charles Badger, USS Albany, USS Wright, USS Northampton, and Carrier Division IV.

He served as operation officer of the Defense Atomic Support Agency and the North Atlantic Command System (AFLOAT). His last duty station was with the Supreme Allied Command Atlantic – NATO.

Commander Snyder was a member of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association, the Retired Officers Association – Hampton Roads Chapter, USS Luce Survivors Association, Elizabeth River Power Squadron, Boat Owners Association, Solo of Tidewater, and was a past president of the Lynnhaven Chapter AARP. He was active in bowling groups, ballroom dancing, boating, and water sports.

He is survived by his wife, Barbara Ann Snyder; four daughters, Mary Ann Bolla of Doylestown, Pa., Melanie Elizabeth Ayscue, Margaret Jeanne Chalfant, and Maureen Kathryn Snyder, all of Norfolk; two stepchildren, Carol Pritchard of Virginia Beach and Glenn Thomason of Richmond; 12 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

A mass will be held at 2 p.m. Friday in the chapel at Oceana Naval Air Base. The family will receive friends at the home from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday. Burial with full military honors will take place at 3 p.m. Monday, April 9, 2001, at Arlington National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the American Cancer Society, 2730 Ellsmere Ave., Norfolk, VA 23513. The Cremation Society of Virginia is in charge of arrangements.

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