Ann Lydon Snyder passed away peacefully on September 5, 2018. She was surrounded by her husband, retired Rear Admiral Roy D. Snyder, Jr., and many loving family members. Ann was born on Feb 28, 1927 in Minooka, Pennsylvania, the youngest of 6 children.
Upon completing high school at Marywood Seminary in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1944, she joined a community of working “government girls” contributing to the WW II war effort in Washington, DC, working in the Navy Department and the Office of the Secretary of State. While in Washington, at the request of her roommate who was dating a U. S. Naval Academy midshipman, she met Roy on a blind date in 1948 on the 50 yard line at the Notre Dame/Navy football game. Following Roy’s graduation from the US Naval Academy and a year at sea as an Ensign, they were married in Washington DC on December 29, 1951.
During Roy’s six-month deployment to Iceland with his first aviation squadron, Ann visited Roy in Reyjavik, Iceland for two weeks. During Roy’s second six-month deployment to Port Lyautey in Morroco, Ann, with another squadron wife, took a one-month tour to the Mediterranean including Rome, Paris and northern Africa. These trips initiated Ann’s worldwide travel experiences through Europe, Asia, Africa and South America during Roy’s 30 years in the Navy and continued during the 67 years of their marriage.
One of her most anticipated trips was the tradition developed later in her life of Christmas vacations she and Roy would take with her children and grandchildren. Over the course of the last decade they traveled to Mexico (3 times) Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Hawaii (twice). During the course of Roy’s naval career Ann was an avid volunteer as a navy wife providing compassionate leadership for the wives particularly during Roy’s tours as Commanding Officer of aviation patrol squadrons, as Commanding Officer of Naval Air Station, Brunswick, Maine, and as Commander Patrol Wings Atlantic in Brunswick, Maine.
She flawlessly executed her role as a gracious hostess in her capacity as a Naval Officer’s wife. Following Roy’s retirement she gave countless hours of volunteer service to the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra League in Alexandria, Virginia. In 2013, they moved from Alexandria, Virginia to Heritage Eagle Bend, a retirement community in Aurora, Colorado, to be closer to their children and grandchildren.
As active residents of the Heritage Eagle Bend Community, Ann participated in many HEB activities, including golf and bridge with her HEB friends. Although Ann traveled the world throughout her life, by far her greatest accomplishment was her family. She was the definition of a most beloved and steadying matriarch!
She provided a moral compass that guided her family’s direction, and she shared her grace and kindness with all who crossed her path. Above all, she was a great wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend to all. Hers was a life well lived and worthy of great celebration.
She is survived by her husband Roy, her 3 daughters, Mari Gillman, Lisa Snyder and Stacy Roode; her 5 grandchildren, Kalli, CJ and Tommy Gillman, Jack and Joe Roode, and a great grandson, Brooks Gillman. A Funeral Mass will be held at Ave Maria Catholic Church in Parker, CO on Friday, September 7, 2018 at 11:00 am followed by a celebration of Ann’s life at Heritage Eagle Bend club house, 23155 E. Heritage Parkway, Aurora, CO, at 12:30pm. Please consider a donation in Ann’s memory to the Covenant House, Smile Train or Boy’s Town.
Visit Parker Funeral Home at www. pfh-co.com for more information or to write a condolence to the family.
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