Joseph Adair (Joe) Snyder

Joseph Adair (Joe) Snyder, 68, passed away on Jan. 2, 2019, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., surrounded by his family. He was born in May 1950 to William Kenneth and Leighton Adair (Rapp) Snyder of Massanetta Springs, who preceded him in death.
A 1968 graduate of Montevideo High School, Joe's love of television production began with his employment as a teenager at WSVA-TV (now WHSV). He enlisted in the National Guard in Harrisonburg from 1969 to 1973, after which he entered active duty in the U.S. Army, serving throughout his military career in the Signal Corps. His duty stations included Fort Benning, Ga.; the 7th Army Training Command, Heidelberg, Germany; Television Branch, Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Audio Visual Information Services, The Pentagon; U.S. Army Liaison to NBC for the 1988 Olympics (AFKN), Seoul, Korea; and Site R, Fort Ritchie, Md.
Immediately following his retirement from the Army in 1992, Joe went to work as a contractor for Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) – first at the Office of Naval Intelligence in Suitland, Md., followed by assignments at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island; Joint Task Force, East in Key West, Fla.; and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in Washington, D.C. He remained at GAO for more than 15 years until his 'second' retirement in 2016, retaining the same position in video teleconferencing while working for two additional contracting companies (Booz Allen Hamilton and SRA/CSRA).
Joe was passionate about gristmills, old trains and genealogy research. He was an avid student of history, to include the Revolutionary War, Civil War, WWII and particularly Virginia history. One of his proudest accomplishments was to have amassed what we believe to be a complete collection of first edition books and folios by the historian John Walter Wayland. He loved traveling to historic sites throughout the commonwealth with his wife. He was especially fond of visiting Mount Vernon, Stratford Hall and numerous homes of the Founding Fathers, as well as the Northern Neck of Virginia. In 2008, he was inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution. He was a member of American Legion Post 239 in Cascade, Md.
In 1981, he married Katherine Karol (Bowman) Snyder, who survives. Also surviving are his son, Aaron C. Snyder and wife Jan (Scott) of Stephens City, Va.; cousin Robin Rapp of Chicago; sister-in-law Beth A. (Bowman) and Lee Holt, full-time RV travelers; brother-in-law Douglas Franklin Bowman of Harrisonburg, Va.; nephew Douglas Franklin Bowman II and family of Suffolk, Va.; niece Debra Lynn (Bowman) Smith and husband Jeff of Mount Crawford, Va.; stepson Nathan Waggy; daughter-in-law Garcia (Smith) and grandchildren Shawna, Shaye and Zander Waggy of Broadway, Va.; grandson Mike Kotapish of Vienna, Va.; extended family Luis Sierra and wife Megan of Bealeton, Va., and Laura Middlebrooks of Richmond, Va.; brother David Snyder and wife Elizabeth of Mobile, Alabama; nephew Kenny Snyder and wife Suijin Li of Raleigh, N.C.; and niece Samantha (Snyder) Fabacher and husband Scott of Gulfport, Miss.
At Joe's request, he was cremated. A celebration of life gathering will be held at his home in Alexandria (Mount Vernon), Va., in the spring.
Donations in Joe's memory may be made to Mount Vernon Preservation, PO Box 110, Mount Vernon, VA 22121 (https://www.mountvernon.org/preservation/) or Stratford Hall, 483 Great House Road, Montross, VA 22520 (https://www.stratfordhall.org/support-stratford/).