Jerry Snider passed away peacefully surrounded by family on Sunday, December 30, 2012, just two weeks shy of his 75th birthday after bravely fighting colon cancer for the last seven years of his life. He was born in Puyallup, Washington, on January 13, 1938, to Louise Sanfield Snider and William Joseph Snider. The family resided in Olympia and Hoquiam prior to moving to Aberdeen. Jerry graduated from Weatherwax High School in 1956 and was the quarterback for the Aberdeen Bobcats. After attending Grays Harbor Community College Jerry married Kay Wasti, enlisted in the United States Navy, and served aboard the USS Princeton stationed in the South Pacific. They had two children, Kimberly Kay and Laura Lynne after which the family moved to Seattle in the early 1960’s. Following work at the Seattle Youth Center and Carnation Dairy while attending the University of Washington, Jerry found his true calling in residential and commercial construction and real estate. After settling in Seattle, two more children were born, Wendy Jo and Jon Lowell before moving the family to Kirkland, Wash., where he lived for the remainder of his life. Kay and Jerry were divorced in 1980 and he later met Christine Byrd. Together they had a daughter, Pepper Snider in 1988.
Jerry had many loves in life including his family, clam digging, walking on the beach, vacationing at Ocean Shores, making his famous clam dip, dachshunds, and the Green Lantern Tavern in Copalis Beach. He also enjoyed working with the VFW 2995 in Redmond by raising money for veterans and handing out poppies on Veterans Day. Jerry’s other passions included driving around looking at real estate, Tabasco Sauce and summer trips to Lake Tanwax. Among sports he enjoyed football, baseball and basketball, plus coaching his son Jon in each of those sports, but most of all being a dad.