Clarence Snyder Obituary

Having graduated from OLP and Mount Carmel several years behind Van my memories are somewhat different than those of his dear friends and relatives.



However, I have a memory of him that nobody else ever saw. It was a memory so different from those I have read thus far. And the memory shows another side of Van that perhaps many others have not seen.

It was a demension of Van that I do not see in the current comments.



The year was about 1962. I was a seminarian in the Carmelite Order at Niagra Falls, Ontario. Van and the Mount Carmel football team were there in August for pre-season prac-tice. One day a player died suddenly on the field apparently of heat exhaustion.



That night about 9:30 or 10:00 I left my room to go to the chapel to say some night prayers. As I descended the stairs, I found Van literally slumped in a human heap, sobbing and clutching his rosary beads. I can't remember his words and I, being a young person of 26, didn't exactly know what to say to him for consolation.



But I instantly recognized that he was taking responsibility for that tragic event which he had not intended to happen. This sobbing, human heap was so different from the image I had of him in the school yards of OLP or Horse Mann grammar schools where he was the rough, tough, happy go lucky guy.



Today we hear the expression: "stand up guy". From what has been written above, Van was and always will be a "stand up guy". I had the questionable experience of seeing Van as a "stand up guy" in another demension that will live in my memory forever.



May God give joy and consolation to all who have lost him temporarily.

May we all be "stand up guys and girls" here and with Van in Heaven.

On March 2nd, I wrotee an entry into this guest book. It was a one-liner and now I would like to make an addition.



Van was my brother and I want to say a big THANK YOU. You friends who have written your memories of Van and especially his pranks have brought laughter to me in these days of grief.

In December I made a choice. I could either go to Chicago for Van's funeral which i knew was imminent or go to visit with him when he was alive. I would prefer if I could have done both but there was no possiblle way. I regreat with all my heart that I was not there this week to say "Until we meet again" but I must live with my decision. Thankfully our visit in December was so meaningful. We shared some smile and laughs and I was able to tell him how much I loved him.

Now it is time to pay tribute to you people who took some time to share your sentiments and thought and memories. I take comfort in how much Van was loved by his friends.



Tom Carey is the utmost definition of a friend. Loyal, caring, loving and a gift that not many of us experience in our lifetime. What a blessing he was throughout Van's life...right up until the end. He has my heartfelt gratitude and I pray that God will bring him comfort in these days after his loss of his dear, lifelong friend.

Tom is a Saint, he was Van's angel!!! (God knows Van needed an angel at his side!) So to Tom God bless and protect you.

Many of you have been so supportive to me these past few months and some of you even helped me to get to Chicago in December...THANK YO THANK YOU! You know who you are.

Jack White has been lifesaver his wonderful humor and support have been priceless these past months....AND we have never even met! God has sent me many angels at this difficult time.

Thank you to all of you. I will not forget your kindness. If ever anyone of you needs anything, please call on me.

If there are anymore of you out there who remember Van and his pranks, please feel free to express yourselves on Legacy. Van is grinning ear to ear and I am sure there are many of you who can recall his grin!!!! I can just immaginewhat my Mother said when she saw Van arrive in heaven,,"Oh please God not more of this, I am not sure I can handle this!!!!"

It's OK Mom, He is Now an angel. Just immagine Van with his wings, WOW.

I love you Van and will see you soon.

Your little sister (pain in the a--)

Gayle

Gayle and Van's family:



I was sure sorry to hear about Van's death. The last time I saw him was at our 45th Carmel reunion.



I had the dubious honor of being picked to box Van in the first grade bouts at OLP. I not only got killed, but to this day, I still suffer from headaches.



I can remember seeing Van when he lived on Merrill (I lived on Clyde, a block away). He used to let me ride his horse ,A great Dane.



We both had one thing in common; we both retired from Ford Motor Company.



One thing I'm sure of: Van will fight his way into heaven.



God bless, Van

Uncle Van, I wish I could have gotten to know you better. It's nice to read some of your history here. I look forward to visiting with you in heaven someday. I'm comforted in knowing that you are now healthy and happy. It sounds like you may need encouragement to behave yourself up there, so you behave, okay? :-) Love, Lori

Jack Whites note says it all.

It was great to have known Van Snyder. God bless him.

REMEMBRANCE

Reminiscence: A message of friendship.

Let me now bring back some events of the early years of my friendship with Mr.Snyder. Others are invited to fill in the gaps I leave in his life.

We came together in grammar school at OLP in the 1940s as Jack White said above. By grade 8 we were inseparable. We were good kids, bad kids and everything in between.Wecalled each other many names.Van's favorate was Zeek! But we never called him Clarence.

Each school day back then I would arrive at his back door which opened intoa small kitcken. His mother would serve us breakfast while we waited for Hank Schendorf to arrive. Then the 3 of us would leave for school. For reasons only known to us,Van and I set ourselves the formidable task of attaining an unbeatable OLP truancy record while Schendorf set himself the opposit goal:he never missed a day of school! This was just unthinkable for us. One result/benefit of all this 'free time'was that Van and I were the first ones in our gang to sneek in and see the banned movie,"The Outlaw" which was playing downtown at the then sleazy Realto theater on 12th and State streets.

After school many pupils in our class palled around together: riding on the back of trucks, kitching rides on rear bumbers when streets were snowy and pulling off neighborhood pranks. Most of these deeds need to be keept secret to this day to protect the guilty parties! However,two do come to mind: even though we werenot OLP' patrol boys'(i.e. street crossing guards for younger pupils) we always left class along with them(about 2:45pm) just to get out of school early. Our Nun never protested this exit as she probably was glad to get rid of us. Well one day we and others too found rope and wire on our way out the door and then used these to lock the school doors closed on the outside when leaving early that day. To this day can you imagine the contemt and scorn that Principal had for us for delaying the exit of her kids(Jeffory Blvd.side only)!! Even many of our class mates expressed extreem displeasure to us about experiencing that extended school day.Eventually Nick Rollinger arrived to rescue and release the hord of disgruntled kids. Another example follows of our mirthful frolicing occurred at lunch time where Van's strength was useful. A group of us under his leadership removed long ladders leaning against the school building in use by roofers working on the school roofs thus denying them an exit from the roof. For some reason they too became enraged at us as I recall the heated session we later attended in the Principal's small office. The subject of expulsion even came up again! Needless to say our beloved parents did not appreicate our prank either Come to think about it we did seem to spend a lot of time visiting our Principal back then. It is no wonder why the OLP nuns were smiling from ear to ear the night we were graduated out into the world beyond OLP.

Saturday afternoons usually were spent at the Avalon matinee.where the entire gang sat in the same row of seats week after week. By now we were not as eager to seek out free food and soft drinks as before but now were more interested in meeting girls inside.

Later on in High School our interests diverged somewhat, although still very much interested in girls. Van joined athletic teams where he excelled. I devoted my attention to untangling the mechanisms of the internal combustion engine. We still spent lots of week ends together. Sometimes so late that instead of Van returning home he would accompany me on my early morning paper route. Then we would return to my house to sleep during the day. Soon I left Mt. Carmel and friends to attend a"better" school:Chicago Vocational School. Notice the initials, Van did too. As he advanced himself in sports I made machines go fast. As our gang developed a tast for beer I instead used alcohol as a racing fuel. Accidents happened to both of us separately mostly. My bones broke;Van receicved several injuries in physical endeavors such as sports and brawls. Both of us became well known in local emergency rooms.Hosiptals even had our mother's telephone numbers on file.

Van enjoyed fast rides on my Harley motorcycle. So when he purchased a brand new 88 Oldsmobile (very fast car in its day) he soon found out that it could not out accelerate my bike. So he asked me to"soup it up" for him. Afterwards it really ran fast! He enjoyed driving/racing it but times were changing again for us. Eventually both of us attended different colleges but still continued to party together. Soon I was in Florida racing cars and Van got married and started a family. Both of us were drafted into the army in 1953 and went separate directions. Afterwards we rarely saw each other.

As long as I live I shall continue to remember the stupid, crazy, funny things we did together. Now it time for others to fill in the gaps in Van's interesting and wonderful life for the rest of us.

Van was my classmate both at Our Lady of Peace, And MountCarmel HS.

There is not enough room on the internet to list the exploits of this guy! At some time during our lives we have heard someone referred to as "Happy-Go-Lucky"......Van Snyder coined the phrase!!! I often wondered if he had a serious bone in his body! He is now at peace with Our Lady of Mount Carmel whom he served so well, and I'm sure She will tolerate his pranks.

As a kid growing up in Chicago Van was a hero to me and so many others. He was my big brother John's class mate and friend. I often wondered where he was living and come to find out in 2001 he had lived in the San Jose California area, where I live. Van coach my step-son's father Tim Moran at Carmel. Tim was killed on duty fighting a fire in Chicago. I wish my son could have meant Van. It would have meant so much to him to meet his Dad's coach. Van will be missed by many.

Farewell old friend. Although we have not seen you in 30 years we have thought about you often and the good times we had. Rest in peace.

Wish I had been able to see more of Van during adulthood. He was one hell of a young man. Never could be accused of not being actvely involved.

I will miss Van. With all my love