Nola E Snyder

Nola E. Snyder, age 95, finally got her wish to be with our other family angels. She passed away at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, WA, on April 18, 2022, with her daughters by her side.

Nola was born August 8, 1926, to Amelia (Wrighter) and Harry Bish, in Kellersburg, PA. She grew up and attended school in the small town in PA,

About a mile from where she lived. She talked of when she was in grade school, that her dad made her a stick and a hoop. She used the stick to roll the hoop as she walked to and from school. When she played baseball on the boys’ team, they walked to and from neighboring towns for games. In high school, she walked more than a mile to catch a ride to school, and when winter came, she quit school because it was too dangerous to walk to where she could catch her ride. During WWII, she watched for airplanes and worked in a glove factory.

 In 1945, she married Donald L. Snyder. She was the wife, stay-home mother, and unrecognized associate pastor to the churches her husband served in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Washington. For many years, she took in laundry and ironing to supplement the family income. In the mid-1960s, she worked as a librarian for the City of Othello and then at Bainbridge Island High School, until she retired in 1989.

Nola had many talents and interests. In her family’s early years, she was a seamstress (she sewed clothes for herself and her children), a gardener (she spent many hours canning, freezing, and preserving food for her family), a knitter, a tatter, and a crocheter. She was always an avid reader, letter-writer and journalist (as noted by the multitude of notebooks she filled with the day-to-day doings of life). In 1964, she went on an around-the-world mission with other members of the PNW Conference of the Methodist Church – a far cry from her humble beginnings. After retirement, she added community volunteer and cross-stitcher to her long list of talents and interests. She and Ron belonged to the Sons of Norway and the Early Ford V-8 Club.

Nola was a kind and generous person. She was a good Mom and a fun Mom, and she loved many things throughout her life – her family and friends, Mothers’ Day weekends with her daughters at the ocean, family weekends at the cabin on Snoqualmie Pass, Casino time, and being toasty warm. She loved music and dancing, and that’s how she met Ron, the one she loved for forty-plus years of her life. Together, they worked on the construction of two houses, took many road trips around the country, and ended up being “rain birds” with a house in AZ (where she could be really warm).

Survivors include her life-partner, Ronald Hoff of Poulsbo, WA; two daughters – Linda Snyder (Patrick Murphy) and Susan Snyder (Keith Brenden) all of Lynnwood, WA; 6 grandchildren – Don Snyder (Natalie); David Gillespie (Jill); Lisa Loera; Todd Snyder (Stacy); Gary L. Snyder; and Sam Brenden (Melody); 12 great-grandchildren; 10 great-great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

Nola was preceded in death by her infant son, Roland; her son, Gary; her parents, Amelia and Harry Bish; her brother Fred Bish; and her sister, Connie Shick.

As per her wishes, the family will celebrate Nola’s life in August – near what would have been her 96^th birthday.