Earl Francis Snyder

A wonderful husband, beloved father, loving grandfather and great-grandfather took his final flight on October 1, 2015, Thursday morning up to Heaven.

Earl was born in Nitro, West Virginia on February 6, 1924. He enlisted in the US Navy at the age of 17 and at the age of 23 joined the US Air Force, formerly known as the US Army Air Corps. On July 20, 1950, he married Mary McCoy of Homer, Illinois. They were married for 65 years and blessed with 5 children, 9 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. In 1972, he retired from the US Air Force with 31 years of military service and spent an additional 10 years in government service.

Earl had many accomplishments which consisted of 22 meritorious awards. He flew 102 missions during his career for which he received the "Air Medal Citation." One of his greatest memories was being honored in 2013 at the Capitol Airshow at Mather AFB for the 65th Anniversary of the "Berlin Airlift" which was one of the most humanitarian aid efforts in history. Earl had been part of the 1949 flight teams who flew more than 277,000 flights within 15 months and will always be considered a hero.

In August of 2012, Earl was selected to participate in "The Honor Flight" to Washington, DC with a group of fellow WWII Veterans. On many occasions he expressed his enjoyment for having had the privilege to take part in such a memorable event.

In Earl's 91 years, he was a kind, loving, humble and well-respected gentleman. His positive and uplifting attitude had an impact on all who met and knew him. He would always put a smile on your face with his wit and charm. His priority was always his family and we were fortunate and honored to have known him and loved him for all those years.

God rest your soul Earl Francis Snyder, Jr. and thank you for your 31 years of military service. You proudly served our country and in doing so, you not only kept our family from harm, you kept our country free!

You will always be forever in our hearts!