Robert Snider Obituary

Robert Alan "Bob" Snider

July 23, 1938 - January 3, 2025

Robert Alan "Bob" Snider, 86, passed away peacefully on Jan. 3, 2025, at home surrounded by family and friends.

He was born on July 23, 1938, about three miles northeast of Maywood in Frontier County to Ronald Wesley and Myrtle Ellen (Hayden) Snider. The family moved to Oregon in the early 1940s and ended up in the Lorain Valley near Cottage Grove, Oregon. His mother and four children moved back to Maywood in 1944.

While in high school, Bob lived with Deed Faling and got lunch by doing dishes at Estelle's Café. He also lived with Chuck and Connie Brandes, who saved his life by taking him into their home and raising him as one of their own. During his time with the Brandes family, Bob helped build phone lines and run the switchboard. After graduating from Maywood High School, he joined the Navy in September 1956. While at boot camp in San Diego, he met his buddy Ernie, who introduced him to his twin sister, Isabel A. "Izzy" Ortega. Bob and Izzy were married at the San Gabriel Mission, in San Gabriel, California, on June 15, 1957, and they had five children: twin sons, Lawrence "Larry" Dean and Robert "Bob" Alan II, son, John Michael, daughter, Lorraine Ann, and son, Ronald Wesley.

After I.C. Electrician school, Bob served on the U.S.S. Frontier for 37+ months until his discharge in September 1960. He then worked for High Rise Construction in the Los Angeles area until 1973. During this time, the family lived in Rosemead, and then in Covina. They moved to Bob's hometown of Maywood in 1973, where the kids all attended Maywood Public Schools and Bob worked as a bus driver and maintenance man. He later drove for UPS until he was hired on as a sheet metal worker for the Union Pacific Railroad in 1977. Bob and Izzy moved to North Platte in 1993 and Bob retired from the UPRR in 2002.

While raising their family, Bob and Izzy took the kids on many camping trips, traveling to several western states. All of their life, Bob worked on remodeling and fixing up every home the family lived in. He was happiest when he was building and restoring houses. On many of these projects, he had a great work partner, Chuck DaMoude. Bob was a jack-of-all-trades and took pride in having a beautiful yard with flowers, trees, and an abundant garden. He was an avid bird watcher and nature lover, feeding the squirrels and birds in his backyard daily.

He was very proud of his large, extended family and rarely missed one of his grandchildren's school events. Over the last 12+ years, he enjoyed having coffee every morning with his neighbor and best friend, Allen Janas.

Bob was preceded in death by his mother, Myrtle; stepfather, Herbert Hendrickson; father, Ronald; in-laws, Juan and Ana Ortega; brothers-in-law, Ernie Ortega and Ralph Kramer Sr; sister-in-law Cathy Snider; the love of his life and wife of 66 years, Izzy; and beloved sons, John and Ronnie.

Bob is survived by his siblings, Eula Kramer of Woodbine, Iowa, Darryl Snider of Kearney and Daniel (Lavonne) Snider of Bartlesville, Oklahoma; half-brother, Larry Dean Anderson of Vinita, Oklahoma; children, Larry (Jill) Snider of North Platte, Bob (Debbie) Snider of Granada Hills, California, and Lorraine (Jerry) Mullen of Maywood; grandchildren, Tracy, Angelica, Faith, Hilary, Melissa, Kurt, Nathan, Matthew, Alyssa, Jessica, Alexis, Michael and Jeffrey; 17 great-grandchildren; one great-great-granddaughter; and special nephew, David John Ortega and family of Murrieta, California.

Bob's family would like to express a special thank you to the amazing Brookstone hospice team for their care and expertise in Dad's final months.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to The Salvation Army.

Funeral service is at 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 10, at Carpenter Memorial Chapel with Chaplain Ned Cooper officiating. Burial follows at 1 p.m. at Fort McPherson National Cemetery, near Maxwell. Visitation is from 1-6 p.m., with family receiving friends from 4-6 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 9, at Carpenter Memorial, which is entrusted with arrangements.