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Herb, the son of Abraham and Eva (Hirshberg) Snyder, grew up in West Hartford, CT, graduating from the Hall High School class of 1942. Herb was athletic and studious. He worked hard and played hard, serving as Hall High’s soccer goalie, all four years of high school. As a young man, he worked in his father’s drug store, Vanderbilt Drug, in West Hartford, delivering medications to customers. He loved the summers he spent during his childhood at Ocean Beach in New London.
Upon graduating from Hall, he enrolled in Trinity College. His undergraduate education was interrupted for three years while he served honorably in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II, as a meteorologist stationed in the Aleutian Islands and received a Letter of Commendation recognizing his outstanding service. When he returned to Trinity, he graduated second in the pre-med class of 1948. He attended Chicago Medical School and, after receiving his medical degree, in 1956 he joined the general practice of Dr. A. Elmer Diskan in Manchester, CT. A few years later, he continued on to do a radiological residency at Hartford Hospital for three years and then joined Manchester Radiologists in 1965. During his career as a radiologist, Herb served as President of the Manchester Memorial Hospital medical staff and as Medical Director of the School of Radiologic Technology. He was made a diplomat of the American Board of Radiology in 1967. Throughout his career, he was considered a top doc by his peers and patients and was highly respected as an astute diagnostician.
Herb was a caring and devoted father. One of his proudest memories was serving as the team “doctor” for the Manchester High School football team the four years his son, Rob, was the team’s quarterback. He never missed his children’s swim meets or his daughter Debbe’s dance recitals or synchronized swim shows. He adored his four granddaughters, especially vacations he spent with them on Cape Cod, the Rhode Island shore and Delray Beach, Florida. They loved their Papa.
Herb was a life-long sports fan, an expert skier and a dedicated golfer. He was a member of Ellington Ridge Country Club, Tumblebrook Country Club and Delaire Country Club in Delray Beach Florida, where he pursued his passion for golf. But while his children were growing up, he never broke the pledge he made for his family–no more than one round of golf on the weekends. He also had an avid interest in world affairs and world travel. He and his wife, Mim, were mentors and hosts to many foreign dignitaries who came to the World Affairs Council of Connecticut and they visited some of them during their many trips abroad. In the 1980s, he was instrumental in obtaining asylum for one of them, an Afghan doctor, who was forced out of his country, after members of his family were killed by the Taliban. Herb was a humanitarian and a generous supporter of many charitable causes. He was active in the Topper Men’s Club. But most of all, he will be remembered as a great friend, who always kept in touch and was always ready to step in with medical advice and help whenever it was needed.
In addition to his wife, Miriam Z. Snyder, Dr. Snyder is survived by his daughter, Debbe Greenspan, her husband, Richard Greenspan, daughter-in-law, Susan Snyder, four granddaughters, Tara N. Kinney, husband Peter Kinney, Jr. of Andover, MA, Alison S. Uthe, husband, Josh Uthe, of Raleigh, NC, Tracey L. Greenspan of Tarrytown, NY. Leslie Snyder of Raleigh, NC, and four great-grandchildren, Charlotte, Carter, Avery and Mason. Dr. Snyder was predeceased by his beloved son, Robert G. Snyder, sister, Thelma Sigal, and brother-in-law, Nathan Sigal.
The family would like to deeply thank the staff at Hebrew Health Care, especially Denise Paige, Matthew Schott, Delcita Grant, Mirela Marin, Eric Lau and Evelyn Anthony, for their attentive care for the past six years. Funeral services will be held on Friday, April 10, 2015, at 1:00 pm in the chapel of Weinstein Mortuary, 640 Farmington Ave., Hartford, CT. Burial will be held at Fairview Cemetery, West Hartford, CT. The family will receive friends and family on Friday after the interment at the home of Richard and Debbe Greenspan, 5 S. Ridge Dr., Bloomfield, CT 06002. Memorial donations may be made to a charity of the donor’s choice. For further information, please visit online at www.weinsteinmortuary.com/funerals.cfm.
