Gerald Lee Snyder

Gerald Lee Snyder was born in Hagerstown, Maryland on October 31, 1935. He grew up in Greencastle, Pennsylvania with his parents Merle Blantire Snyder and Mary Ellen Faust Snyder. He had an older brother Richard, now deceased, who was seven years his senior. 

Life was very active for Gerald and his brother. They fished and hunted together and played fast pitch softball until the late 1940s. As they were growing up, both boys worked at two major businesses in Greencastle - the ELM department store and the Greencastle Packing Company. Gerald also worked at Penn Mat grocery store and later in his father's haberdashery, both of which were on East Baltimore Street in Greencastle. Gerald would earn extra income gardening and mowing lawns for neighbors on Addison Avenue. As a teenager, Gerald loved going to Merrill Hollinger's Ice Cream Store and the theater on Saturday afternoons. Gerald was called “super” by his classmates. He graduated from Greencastle High School in 1953 and Shippensburg State Teachers College in 1957.

Gerald played soccer in high school and participated in track and field in his senior year of high school and all four years at Shippensburg. He was an active participant in the Senior Olympics, competing in track and field, table tennis, basketball, and golf, a sport which he loved and taught his grandson to play. Gerald took piano lessons in Greencastle, played the alto saxophone in the Keystone band of Greencastle and the Melatones Big Band. 

After graduating from Shippensburg, Gerald taught for one year at Arundel High School near Fort Meade, MD. Then, he volunteered for the United States Army. He spent most of his service time at Fort Dix, New Jersey and Fort Benning, Georgia. After his military service, Gerald returned to teaching at Brooklyn Park High School in Anne Arundel County. He taught shorthand, typewriting, and office machines for 25 years. He retired from teaching in 1985. 

Gerald was married in 1966 to Johanna Sabel Ebaugh. Both were career educators in the Anne Arundel County Public School system. His oldest son, Jason, was born in September, 1967. His younger son, Kurt, was born in April, 1971. They lived in Brooklyn Park from 1971 to 1988. In 1988, they moved from Brooklyn Park to Arnold, Maryland.

Gerald began working in the asbestos industry in the 1980s. He also taught seminars in business and government and worked for several medical clinics in Columbia, Maryland. From 1992 to 1997, he worked at Hechingers in Annapolis. 

From 1992 to 2002, Gerald sang in the choir at Calvary United Methodist church in Annapolis. In 2002, he was hired as the organist and music director at Edgewater United Methodist Church. In 2006, he became a lay minister and was consecrated as the pastor of Edgewater United Methodist. The position was a combination of music and pastoral duties. He remained there for 12 years and retired in June of 2018. He served as a substitute pastor, performing funerals or sermons throughout Maryland and Pennsylvania. 

Gerald passed on to eternal life on October 22, 2024. He bravely battled cancer in his last 9 months of life. He never let it slow him down. He will be greatly missed and loved for all eternity by his wife, two sons, daughter-in-law, granddaughters, great-grandchildren, cousins, extended family and friends. 

Gerald was a man of great faith and perseverance, and we are blessed from knowing him. 

Private services are entrusted to the Harold M. Zimmerman and Son Funeral Home, Greencastle, PA. Condolences may be expressed at zimmermanfh.com. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any memorial donations or contributions be made to: The Joshua Snyder Memorial Foundation, 18414 Thundercloud Road, Boyds, MD 20841. https://joshuasnydermemorialfoundation.org/