- Date Of Birth: October 23, 1919
- Date Of Death: April 3, 2016
- State: Utah
William K. Snyder (Bill)
October 23, 1919 – April 3, 2016
William K. Snyder passed away peacefully on April 3, 2016, at McKay Dee hospital from incidents due to age, a heart attack and a stroke. Bill was born in Quantico, Virginia to a military family. He lived many different places in the United States while his dad served in the Marines as an officer. He ended up spending the most time in San Diego, Calif where he graduated from San Diego High School. After high school he joined the Navy, much to the dismay of his marine officer dad.
Once in the Navy he was assigned to the Vestal, a repair ship where he honed his skills as a top notch machinist and was deployed overseas for the majority of his enlistment (5 plus years). About Dec 5th the Vestal was moored alongside the Arizona, in Pearl Harbor, to begin repair work the following Monday. As we all know, Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese on December 7th. The Arizona was sunk and the Vestal was heavily damaged and run up into the mud. Bill was temporarily blinded while running to his battle station from a bomb that hit the Vestal and went down a couple of decks before exploding.
After returning from overseas he married his high school sweetheart Nancy Irene Davis on July 6, 1944. Together they raised 3 children. He has five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Bill was a very skilled craftsman and could build or repair almost anything in his prime. A real perfectionist to say the least and precision was his middle name. He loved fishing, boats and being around water whether saltwater or freshwater. He was a regular on the Wednesday Wendover fun bus for many years.
He was preceded in death by his only daughter Jo Anne McDougal and his wife Nancy. He is survived by his two sons.
