Katherine Lucille Snyder

Katherine Lucille Snyder died peacefully in her sleep on Wednesday. She was born July 28, 1920, one of eight children. She graduated from Great Bend (Ks.) High School in 1938 and moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where she made her home with her sister and family, and where she was employed until her marriage.

She married Joseph R. Snyder on April 4, 1943, and joined him in several places during World War II until he was sent to the Pacific as a press officer on General Douglas MacArthur’s staff. She then returned to Kansas City and worked in the office of the Pratt-Whitney Aircraft factory. At the war’s end, the Snyder’s purchased their first weekly newspaper with money that Kathy saved from Joe’s wartime paycheck and her own earnings. They remained in the newspaper business in the Midwest, except for a brief stint while Joe served in Korea, until moving to 

San Marcos in 2001 to be near their daughter and family. Joe died in 2014. Kathy also was preceded in death by her parents and seven brothers and sisters. 

Kathy treasured her faith and was wonderfully supported by members and pastors from the First United Methodist Church in San Marcos, especially when she was no longer able to attend services. She also was surrounded by many friends and the staff at Brookdale North where she and her husband lived before she moved to Cypress Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in 2018. There she received wonderful care from the nursing and medical staff. She also received excellent care from the Christus Santa Rosa Hospice team. She was a member of PEO Sisterhood since 1961, which she also greatly valued,

Survivors include her daughters, Kate McCarty and husband, David, of San Marcos and Cindy Stalnaker and husband, Wayne of Niceville, Fla.; grandchildren Molly Lawrence, also of San Marcos, and Doug (and wife, Vicki) and Ryan Fessler of Columbia, Mo.; and great-grandchildren, Joseph Lawrence of San Marcos; Sidney Fessler, Brett Fessler and Cody Camerlinck, all of Missouri.

Services will be held in Gallatin, Missouri, where the Snyder’s lived for nearly 50 years. The family suggests memorial gifts be made to the First United Methodist Church in San Marcos.