Elaine Smith Snyder
Former Rochester resident, Elaine Smith Snyder, of Fort Wayne passed away on her 78th birthday at 7:32 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at Parkview Hospital-Randallia of Fort Wayne.
On Sept. 30,1941, Elaine Ann Smith was born in Rochester to Herbert Dale and Margaret M. Wilson Smith. Growing up, she shared her childhood with a sister Jane and three brothers Richard, Bill and Steve. Proudly, Elaine graduated from Rochester High School with the class of 1959. She graduated with a business degree from South Bend Business College in 1961.
In Rochester, Elaine and Richard Lee Snyder were married in 1960. Their union produced two children, Susanne and Richard. He passed away on March 7, 2017.
A sports enthusiast, she enjoyed following the Indy 500, football especially, Notre Dame, the Carolina Panthers and the Indianapolis Colts! She loved and collected lighthouses. Purple was her favorite color and she was affectionately known as “everyone’s nanny.”
Left to cherish Mrs. Snyder’s memories are daughter, Susanne Sponable and husband Eric of Fort Wayne; son, Dr. Richard Dale Snyder D.C. and wife Ashlie of Belmont, N.C.; six grandchildren: Chelsea Kopelman and husband Peter, Joseph Sterba and fiancé Madison Swanson, Drake Sponable, Richard Lee Snyder, Saxon C. Snyder, Benjamin Snyder; one great grandson, Crew Joseph Kopelman; sister, Jane Shriver and husband Steve of Rochester; brother, Steve Smith and wife Lisa of Sedgewick, Kansas; and several nieces and nephews.
Preceding her in death are her parents, infant daughter, Victoria Lee Snyder and two Smith brothers, Richard and Bill.
Private family services for Elaine will be on Saturday, Oct. 5. Interment will be in the Rochester IOOF Cemetery. Pastor Kurt Nichols will officiate.
Memorials may be made to Grace United Methodist Church, 201 West 7th St, Rochester, IN 46975.