Charles Lee Snyder, known as Chuck to his family and Charlie to his friends, passed away on July 29, 2018, at his home in Wadsworth, Ohio. He was 62 years old.
Charles was born on November 20, 1955 to Frank and Mary Ann (Collar) Snyder in Pawnee City, Nebraska. He lost his parents at an early age. His mother died when he was 13 years old and his father died when he was 19.
He attended grade school in Humboldt, Nebraska, Barker School (a one-room country school south of Pawnee), and Pawnee City. In high school he was an all-conference football player and National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist. He participated in 4-H and FFA, showing cattle and hogs… and baked cakes. One year he had the grand-champion hog at the Pawnee County Fair. Another year, his cake entry went to the state fair!
After graduating from Pawnee City High School, he attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on a Four-year Regents Scholarship. He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at UN-L. He was a member of Ag Men Fraternity.
His life-long passions were writing, photography, and German Shepherd dogs. In high school, he worked at the Pawnee Republican, melting lead for the Linotype, writing sports stories, taking pictures, and addressing newspapers. At UN-L, he was the editor of the Nebraska Blueprint, a magazine published by the department of engineering.
He was able to combine his interest in photography and dogs by photographing events for his local dog club, OG Buckeye Schutzhund Club. He was the webmaster for the national club, United Schutzhund Clubs of America. He was known in the Schutzhund (Protection Dog) community for his well-trained dogs.
Charles worked at Babcock and Wilcox after graduation from college. One of his first assignments took him to Saudi Arabia where he lived on and off for several years. After completing that assignment, B&W had him working in South Korea. He later returned to assignments in the states. He took advantage of his many business trips overseas by making time to visit the far reaches of the globe. That might include an African safari, or a drive along the north coast of Spain.
After several years at B&W, he went to work for Crystal Clinic in Montrose, Ohio as an IT engineer.
He also liked to tackle new projects at home, if it meant he could buy new tools. Whether it was a planer, router, or CNC machine, he was always ready to add to his tool inventory. He once told a friend, “What’s the point of doing a project if you can’t buy more tools?”
His sense of humor and caring attitude will be missed by his friends and family He was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his brothers John Snyder of Cortland, Nebraska, Frank (Gina) Snyder of Cedar Falls, Iowa, and Gary (Mary) Snyder of Seward, Nebraska; nieces Raven (Evan) Deuth, Paige Snyder, Lesa Karr, Amy Karr, and Jessica (Trey) Bott; and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
His body was cremated. Services were held in Ohio on August 4, 2018. Services will be held in Nebraska at the United Methodist Church in Pawnee City Nebraska at 1:00 on August 25th.
Memorial donations in memory of Charlie can be made to the American German Shepherd Charitable Foundation (agsdcf.com