Waldon Peter "Pete" Snyder

Waldon Pete Snyder, “Pete”, age 91, husband of Annie Snyder, much beloved father of six, World War II Marine Corps veteran, and retired United Airlines pilot, passed away peacefully at his home on Pageland Farm, in Gainesville, Virginia on January 7, 2011. Pete was born in Kiefer, Oklahoma, on July 12, 1919, to Josephine and Henry Snyder. He attended school in Pryor and Muscogee, Oklahoma. He graduated from San Mateo College in California and completed officers training at the Naval Academy in Corpus Christie, Texas. In World War II, Pete served as a Marine Corps Major and was awarded two distinguished flying crosses for his service in the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command. Name plaques stand in his honor at the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Virginia and on the Wall of Honors at the Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia. Pete left the Marines and on November 15, 1945, started work as an airline pilot with Capital Airlines, which would later merge with United Airlines. On November 24, 1945, Pete married Elizabeth Anne Delp, “Annie”, a Marine Corps Lieutenant whom he had met while they were stationed in Quantico, Virginia. Annie left the Marines and they moved to Falls Church, Virginia, where they had three children. In 1952, Annie and Pete moved to Pageland Farm in Gainesville, Virginia, where they raised Black Angus cattle, chickens, English pointers, pigs, horses, and a stray lamb, and had three more children. After 36 years with the airlines, Pete retired in 1981 to spend more time traveling and skiing with Annie and farming Pageland. Pete is preceded in death by his wife, Annie, who died at the age of 80 on July 12, 2002. He is survived by his six children, Peter Snyder, Patricia Leone, Page Snyder, Pamela Butler, Sally Chandler, and Laurie Snyder, and by his six grandchildren, Charity Snyder, Jennifer Snyder, Casey Butler, Ryan Butler, Nicholas Ewing, and Annie Ewing. During the last couple of years of Pete’s life, Sandy Calloway and Jeff Helms were a great help to Pete’s daughter Page, his main caregiver. The family plans to hold a small private family memorial in Pete’s honor. He was a good man and a wonderful father and will be sorely missed.

Waldon Peter "Pete" Snyder

July 12, 1919 - January 7, 2011