Obituary of Lewis J. Snyder

Lewis Jeffrey Snyder passed away peacefully, February 2, 2014, with his wife and family at his side after fighting a courageous 9 month battle with cancer. He was born in Jamestown, May 18, 1951, to Stewart and Lois Putnam Snyder. He attended Ss. Peter and Paul Parochial School and Jamestown High School, graduating in 1969. As a youth, he worked for his father at Snyder Signs. In earlier years, he was employed at AVM. He also served in the National Guard as a cook. Lew had a long and successful career with the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Department working in the jail, on Road Patrol, in the Civil Division, the Navigation/Snowmobile Division and finally the Family Court Division. He was instrumental in starting the Juvenile Division and was the first Juvenile Officer. While in the Juvenile Division, he visited area elementary schools with "Scoot" the talking bike, teaching bicycle safety. He was a Deputy Sheriff from September of 1973 to March of 1985, at which time he was promoted to Deputy Sheriff Sergeant in charge of Family Court, where he remained until his retirement in June of 2006. In November of 2006, he returned to the Sheriff's Department as a part-time Court Security Officer and remained there until June of 2013 when he resigned due to ill health. He was a member of the CCSEA Negotiation's Team. Lew was a member of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Falconer where he served on the Church Council for six years and co-taught Confirmation classes for two years with his wife, Denise. Lew was a devoted husband and loving father and his family was always a first priority. He was an avid baseball and staunch Cleveland Indians fan, attending many Indians and Pirates Major League Baseball games with his family. He spent countless hours looking forward to and playing Strat-o-Matic Baseball. He was a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He was commissioner for many online baseball fantasy leagues, including Baseball Fever, Classic Keeper League, Cracker Jack Summer League and KilBeam Diamond Mine Baseball. He loved geocaching, hiking, being outdoors, visiting the Audubon, cooking and various board games, especially Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble. Lew also loved spending his evenings doing the Jumble word game in the paper as well as watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, then listening to music and reading. He was a pitcher, then a catcher, on the Old Timers Baseball League. He initiated, coached and played shortstop for the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Department, 3rd Battalion Softball Team for many years. He loved to travel, spending hours looking at various places online to visit. He loved mountains and seascapes, with lighthouses being among hia favorite places to visit. Lew is survived by his wife, soul mate, and the love of his life, Denise Lombardo Snyder, with whom he celebrated 28 wonderful years of marriage on October 5, 2013. Three children, Matthew (Courtney) Snyder, Henrietta, NY; April Snyder of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; and Heather (Andrew) Glover, Jamestown. One sister, Maggie (John) Scorse, Jamestown; two brothers, B. Stewart (Sandy) Snyder, Sanford, NC; Mark (Linda) Snyder, Lexington, SC. Five nieces and nephews, Kimberly Kowalski, Jackson, MI; Troy (Mary) Moran, Jamestown; Paul (Holly) Snyder, Westfield; Joshua Snyder, Hawaii; Allison Snyder; and several great nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his mother in June 2009, his father in May 2012, and his first wife, Melody Jean Snyder, in October 2012. The Funeral Service will be held at11 a.m. Thursday in the Lind Funeral Home. The Rev. Timothy J. Hoyer, pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church will officiate. The family will receive friends from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday in the funeral home. Memorials may be made to the Jamestown Audubon Society, 1600 Riverside Road, Jamestown, NY 14701-9306; or Cancer Treatment Centers of America at Eastern Regional Medical Center, 1331 East Wyoming Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19124.