Snyder, William Francis

William Francis Snyder

April 17, 1938 – May 15, 2013

William “Duke” Francis Snyder, Major U.S.M.C. (Ret) died at his camp in the town of Harrisburg on Wednesday afternoon May 15, 2013. He was born April 17, 1938, on the Cobb Road in the Town of Harrisburg, the elder son of the late Harvey Francis and Catherine (Pasternak) Snyder. Bill enjoyed attending the many family sporting events, huge gatherings of family and friends at Snyder’s Swamp, gardening and bird watching. He always had PMA. and will be sadly missed by all who loved him. He will always be remembered. Surviving are five children: Joseph Michael and William Harvey of Barnes Corners; Jon William, Michelle Nicole and Deborah Yvonne of Fallbrook, CA.; two brothers, Douglas of New York Mills and Gilbert and his wife Diane of Vancouver, WA; two sisters-in-law, Linda of Mannsville and Ethel of Copenhagen. He is also survived by many nieces, nephews, cousins, great nieces and great nephews. Bill is additionally survived by numerous extended family and friends. He was predeceased by two brothers, Eugene Harvey and Jerry Leroy. Bill graduated from Copenhagen Central School, 1957, Cortland State, 1961, National University, CA (M.S.) 1985. He joined the Navy on October 10, 1955 and later transferred to the Marine Corps and retired as a Major on May 1, 1981. After Basic Officer School, 1962, he served aboard the CVS-33, U.S.S. Kearsarge in support of the Mercury Space Program recovering the spaceships off the waters of Hawaii. Over the years, he served at Camp Pendleton, CA, Okinawa, Japan, Camp Lejuene, NC, Springfield, MA, Quantico, VA and at MCRD San Diego, CA. During those years, he served two tours in Viet-Nam, ’65-’66 and ’68-’69 earning a Bronze Star and Presidential Unit Citation 1 and eleven other awards, plus Navy-Marine Corps parachute wings, Scuba Diving Badge and the Vietnamese parachute wings. Bill commanded an Ontos Company on his 1st tour landing at Chin Lai, Viet-Nam with the 7th Marine Regt. Landing Team. On his 2nd tour he commanded 3rd Force Recon. Co. conducting patrols along the border between South and North Viet-Nam from Dong Ha to Khe Sanh