Donald Kenneth Snyder, age 93, passed away on August 8, 2017 at Virginia Hospital Center, Arlington, VA. He was a resident of Brookdale Senior Living of Arlington.
Born September 12, 1923, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, he grew up in York and was a 1942 graduate of William Penn High School. During WWII, he served with the Army Air Forces' 430th Fighter Squadron, based at Warmwell air station in England, and later in Germany and France. Following the war he attended George Washington University, receiving a bachelor of arts degree in foreign affairs in 1949. In 1950 he joined the Armed Forces Security Agency at Arlington Hall, which later became the National Security Agency (NSA).
In 1954, he married Barbara Bennett, of Memphis, Tennessee, who preceded him in death in 2013. In 1967, he was assigned to the NSA's Pacific Office in Japan, where the family lived for three years. Locally over the years of their marriage, they resided in Alexandria and Arlington, as well as Takoma Park, Glenwood, Columbia, and Annapolis, Maryland. Following retirement in 1979, he continued working at NSA's archives, contributing to numerous agency historical publications, and later was a docent at the NSA's National Cryptologic Museum. He served as president of the Glenwood Lions Club, as well as serving on several Episcopal Church vestries and community boards.
He is survived by his three sons, John Snyder (David Kemp) of Arlington, Stephen Snyder (Linda White) of Bridport, Vermont and Peter Snyder (Cheryl) of Baltimore, MD. He also leaves four grandchildren, a sister, and numerous nieces and nephews.
A memorial service for family and friends will be held at a later date, with private inurnment at Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to organizations supporting macular degeneration research.
