Longtime Washington HS Vice Principal To Celebrate 100th Birthday

FREMONT, CA — A community-wide, happy birthday goes out to longtime Fremont resident and former Washington and John F. Kennedy high schools' instructor Roy Snyder, who will turn 100 years old on Oct. 15!

Snyder, a father of six children, World War II veteran and a local resident since the 1960s, served in such roles as teacher, dean, vice-principal, activities director and baseball coach at Washington and Kennedy highs from 1962 until his retirement in 1985.

Born Oct. 15, 1920 in Longswamp, PA, Snyder joined the U.S. Army after his high school graduation and served until 1941. But when World War II began, he re-enlisted, this time with the U.S. Air Force, according to his family, which includes his children, Gail, Linda, Roy Jr., Gary, Penny and Carol.

Snyder's service took him from England to North Africa to Italy where, during a mission on Dec. 19, 1943, his plane was shot down and he was taken prisoner by German forces. Snyder and his fellow POWs were transferred to Austria before they eventually were liberated by American forces and sent home to the United States in 1945.

Through the GI bill, he attended and graduated with an English degree from Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA and then later earned a master's degree in history from Lehigh University, also in Bethlehem.

Married with a growing family, Snyder worked as an educator at schools in Montana and Arizona before moving to Fremont in 1962 and beginning his two-decade-plus career at Washington and Kennedy.

His wife, Charlotte, whom he married in 1946, passed away in 2010.

The local VFW is planning to mark his big day with a drive-by at his Fremont home, the same house he's lived in since 1962, his daughter said.

Join us in wishing Roy, a wonderful birthday and many happy returns!

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