William J. Snyder III Obituary (6 February 1961 – 22 March 2017)

William J. Snyder III

6 February 1961 – 22 March 2017

William J. Snyder III was born February 6, 1961, the son of William J. Snyder Jr. and the former Sandra Wilson in Tyrone, Pennsylvania. Following the death of William J. Snyder, Jr. in May 1961, William was later adopted by his paternal grandparents, William J. “Bill” and Thelma (nee Port) Snyder, Sr. William died Wednesday afternoon, March 22, 2017, at his home in Johnstown, Pennsylvania following a lengthy series of illnesses. His spouse David was at his side.

William “Bill” Snyder III was raised and attended schools in Tyrone, Pennsylvania. During high school, Bill was involved with DECA, participated with the Tyrone-Bellwood high schools’ swim team and played a role in the musical production of Guys and Dolls at Tyrone High School. He graduated from Tyrone Area High School in 1979. On October 28, 1979, Bill was united in marriage to Gloria “Jean” Miller at Tyrone. The couple later divorced. Their marriage was blessed with two sons, David and Matthew.

Bill enlisted in the United States Navy in 1979. Following discharge from the Navy, he was employed by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry based in Clarion, Pennsylvania. After returning to Tyrone, Bill was employed by Gardners peanut processing plant in Tyrone prior to attending South Hills Business School in State College, Pennsylvania. While attending South Hills Business School, Bill was named to the Dean’s List and graduated with honors, earning an Associates’ Degree in Marketing - Management with Microcomputer Option. Prior to graduation, he served an internship at Blue Mountain Quality Resources, Inc. – a software company. Bill was also a member of the South Hills Executives Club. Following graduation, Bill worked as a manager of Martin Oil in Bellwood and later as a nurse’s aide at a nursing home in State College, Pennsylvania.

In 1999, Bill relocated to Boiceville, New York and was employed by the Head Trauma Center in Kingston, New York and later became the lead dispatcher for Valley Courier located in Kingston. Bill relocated to Minnesota in September 2001 and was employed by Methodist Hospital and Park Nicollet Health System, St. Louis Park, Minnesota in food service management. He became a ServSafe Minnesota certified food service manager during this time. Bill became employed by Regis Corporation in IT POS technical support, eventually serving as the principal software and technical support individual for franchise store locations. Health issues contributed to Bill’s permanent disability in 2009.

Bill met David Turnmire in December 2002 and the couple lived in St. Louis Park, Minnetonka and Brooklyn Center, all in Minnesota. In 2010, they moved to Dallas, Texas prior to relocating to Johnstown, Pennsylvania in May 2014. Bill and David were married in a private ceremony on October 4, 2014 in Blair County, Pennsylvania.

Bill enjoyed reading, history, science and most of all, movies. He possessed a vast knowledge of classic movies and movie stars throughout the ages. Bill was an historian of the Academy Awards and Oscar winning movies and actors. He was a fan of cooking, home improvement and paranormal television programming. Bill also enjoyed social networking and in previous years, he and David enjoyed various coffee shops in the Minneapolis and Dallas area.

William J. Snyder III is survived by his spouse and longtime partner, David Turnmire of Johnstown, Pennsylvania; two sons: David (Bailey) Snyder and Matthew Snyder, of Tyrone, Pennsylvania; one grandson, Alex Snyder, also of Tyrone; four step-children: Amy (Jeremy) Malheim of Grand Forks, North Dakota, Ryan Turnmire of Fridley, Minnesota, Alan (Karen) Turnmire, also of Grand Forks and Erin Turnmire of Eagan, Minnesota; four step-grandchildren: Emma and Sidney Malheim of Grand Forks, Mason Jones of Eagan and Owen Turnmire, also of Grand Forks; one sister, Brenda (Joseph) Yucas of Makanda, Illinois; niece Jennifer Yucas and her partner Kayla Stults both of Makanda; a half-brother, Mahlon (Bonnie) Osterhout, Jr. of Sinking Valley, Pennsylvania. He is also survived by numerous other relatives.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, William J. “Bill” and Thelma (nee Port) Snyder, Sr.; William J. Snyder, Jr. and Sandra (nee Wilson) Osterhout; one sister, Donna (Donald) Price and numerous aunts, uncles and other relatives.

Received into Christ’s Kingdom and the Christian faith through Holy Baptism on Sunday, July 17, 2016, at home in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Bill had attended various Christian churches, most recently Ascension Lutheran Church in Garland, Texas. God, in His mercy, called William to his eternal rest at the age of 56 years, one month and sixteen days. Bill’s remains will be cremated and will await the glorious resurrection onto eternal life.

GIFTED THROUGH GRIEF

GIFTED THROUGH GRIEF

This article was written in the fall of 1990 and published in the Wyoming edition of  The Lutheran Witness a few months later.

When I received the call to be assistant pastor of Trin­ity Lutheran Church, I had no idea of the challenges and op­portunities that awaited me. From time to time, I remember seminary professors would tell us that they only hoped to pre­pare us adequately for the first sixth months of parish minis­try. Scripture also re­minds me that God does not for­sake His servants and will bless them with the neces­sary gifts to meet those chal­lenges and to serve in His Church.

Since my ordination into the office of the holy minis­try, I have been amazed at how the vast array of life experi­ences which God has given me has served to bless my minis­try among His people. This has certainly been true of the lat­est major occurrence in the life of my family.

Just six weeks after my ordination and installation, my wife, Karen, and I were grieved by the death of our fourth child through miscar­riage.  God has certainly used and will continue to use this event in our lives to bless His Church. We have been gifted through grief. We have been given new insights into the grief that those who experience the death of a child through miscarriage, stillbirth and infant death must face.

It is very difficult to find the right words in the midst of a painful situation like the one we and others have experienced.  Perhaps, there is a message for us in that diffi­culty. One of the most impor­tant ways of healing during grief is to talk about the death and the pain.

All of us, including me, need to be more sensi­tive to the hurts and needs of those who suffer during child­bearing death.  Prior to our experience, I had no idea as to the intensity of grief that follows childbearing loss. For the grieving parents it is a very real and traumatic expe­rience. One of the best ways to be more sensitive is to listen to the parents as they express their grief.  When the oppor­tunity aris­es to speak to the par­ents, we need to speak the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that mes­sage alone offers reas­surance and comfort to people hurting with grief.  Death is never timely and it is rarely welcome.  In reality, death hurts.  That is why Jesus came, died on the cross and was raised to new life.  All of those things He did for us so that sin and death would lose their sting.  Through our faith in His work, He grants us peace. He gives us that gift, even in the midst of grief.  One member of Trini­ty sim­ply said to me after a Sun­day morn­ing wor­ship service, "The peace of the Lord be with you."  Nothing more was said.  Noth­ing more was needed.

Pastors especially need to be aware of the theological questions that may arise fol­lowing the death of a baby. If there has not been the opportu­nity for baptism, the parents may have concerns about the welfare of their child's soul. After the death of our child, I was asked that ques­tion. I groped for an answer that I was not prepared to give. That question was an­swered beautifully for me by a broth­er in Christ. He reas­sured me by reminding me that God is the God of the living and the dead. All things are in His control, including life and death. God has blessed Karen and me by using us to create life. He has also seen fit to take this child to Him­self without the need for or bene­fit of Holy Baptism. That is truly a mira­cle and a source of joy in the midst of grief.

That we have been gifted through grief is indeed re­mark­able.  For me, it is so re­mark­able because we anticipat­ed the birth of another child as a gift from God. Convinced that we would have another son, I picked a name that reflected that reality, N­athan Glen. From the He­brew root, meaning "to give," the chosen name re­flected the blessing God was seeing fit to give us.

Indeed, God is still blessing us with a gift.  It is not the gift that we ex­pected, but one that will be used to bless others.  As I minister to those who experi­ence grief through childbear­ing loss, I pray that God will use my own grief as a basis to grant me the wisdom to serve with compassion and under­standing. It is also my prayer that He will equip me with the listen­ing and communication skills necessary to make me an effec­tive messenger of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those suf­fering from the heartache which accom­panies the death of a child. Furthermore, I pray that it will enable me to be more sen­sitive to those who experience grief through other losses as well.  Only God knows the ex­tent to which the gift I received through grief will serve as a blessing to others. He will use this gift according to His good and gracious will.      Our Heavenly Father is restoring a sense of peace to the Turnmire home. There will be days when we are saddened by our loss. But we rejoice that God gave us the gift of life, if even for a short time. He has blessed us with four chil­dren, three in our care and one who rests safely in His loving arms. What a wonderful God we have who is able to give us great gifts, even in the midst of our grief.

Rev. David B. Turnmire, 1990