Obituary of Mary Helen Snyder

Mary Helen (Sue) Snyder, 73, passed away peacefully on the morning of Tuesday, July 17th, 2018, with her youngest daughter, Beverly Sue (Snyder) Panfil, at her side holding her hand. She was a resident of Mims, FL for 38 years, a resident in Newport, TN for a nearly 5 years and then she resided with her oldest daughter and son-in-law in South Florida for the last 3 ½ years of her life. Sue was born on November 20, 1944 in Washington, D.C. She was the second child/first daughter to Walter & Helen Coon and a sister to 8 siblings; 6 brothers and 2 sisters. Sue was the kind of girl who loved homemaking (especially cooking) and did not mind helping care for her younger siblings when needed.  As a very young teenager, she took a liking to one of her brother’s friends, Frank Snyder.  Besides her beautiful blue eyes, her sweet smile & her kind heart, we are totally convinced she won Frank over – hook, line & sinker – with her infamous southern cooking!  Their dates consisted of a lot of roller-skating, dancing (especially to Elvis!) and going to the movies.  Their all-time favorite song was Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love” and one of their favorite gospel songs was Randy Travis’ “Amazing Grace”.  Frank was a 4 year Veteran of the US Navy from 1960 – 1964 as a Seaman Recruit Hydraulics Instructor and in the middle of his serving, Sue married him on January 4, 1962. In 1969 they relocated their family (of 5 at the time) from Arlington, VA to Cocoa, FL where their son was born and completed their family of 6. In 1972 they moved to Mims, FL. In 2008, after Frank’s retirement from Kennedy Space Center as an electrician for more than 32 years, they moved to Newport, TN to fulfill their life-long dream of living in the mountains. Sadly, their dream was short-lived as Frank passed away from lung cancer in 2014; Sue then moved to South Florida to be closer to her family. Sue is preceded in death by her loving husband of 52 years, Frank H. Snyder, Jr., her parents, Walter B. and Helen D. (Binns) Coon, Sr., brothers, Walter B. (Skeeter) Coon, Jr., William (Billy) Coon, Marvin Coon, John Coon, Robert (Bobby) Coon, and son-in-law, James (Jim) Panfil. Sue leaves to cherish her memory her daughters, Deena (Danny) MacLeod of Lake Worth, FL, Leslie Fields of Ocean City, MD, Beverly Panfil of Titusville, FL, her son, Frank H. Snyder, III of Jacksonville, FL, 10 grandchildren, 9 great-grandchildren, 2 sisters, 1 brother and many other loving family members and friends. Some little known facts about Sue: Sue’s real name is “Mary”; her Daddy wanted to name her “Suzie” & told her Mom, “You can name her whatever you want but I am calling her “Suzie”! – as she grew older, it became “Sue”.; Sue was a survivor! – she survived breast cancer, melanoma & 3 strokes while suffering from many other illnesses throughout her life. Sue was a fighter! – doctors were always amazed by her strength & she was always a favorite patient of both her doctors and the many nurses from various hospitals, rehab centers and home health care agencies. A little glimpse of what we loved about her the most: How much she loved birds – especially hummingbirds and butterflies – especially yellow butterflies!; Mama loved to shop – “shop ‘til you drop!” (you can never have too many shoes, purses, jewelry & angels!); going out to eat and spending time with family and friends whether for an occasion or “just because”; watching her enjoy just sitting quietly in her bedroom in her rocking chair; old country music; how she always wanted to feed people! – she was always worried about babies being hungry – even adults for that matter!; how much she loved getting “huggies”; how she believed that there wasn’t anything that a cheeseburger, a Wendy’s Frosty, a Boston Cream Donut or a Diet Coke couldn’t fix!; how much she loved the shows, “Cops”, “Judge Judy”, “Wheel of Fortune”, “Extra” & “TMZ”.; how her beautiful nails were always on point and she always said, “beautiful nails make you feel beautiful every single day!”; her life-long love & life-long hate for The Washington Redskins!; how much she looked forward to going out on Friday nights for wings & beer!; how much she loved living in her nightgown and robe and always said, “clothes are overrated!”; her “smiling eyes”; her southern cooking; of course without measuring anything and that is why nothing turns out as good as hers! – nobody can cook up fried chicken, potato salad or sausage gray & biscuits like Mama! – NOBODY!!; her gentleness, her kindness and her soft hands always reaching out to hold your hand “just because”; the joy of watching her enjoy her great-grandchildren; finding her cough-drop wrappers EVERYWHERE!; her soft skin – nurses would always comment on how beautiful and soft her skin was; watching her enjoy working on her word search puzzles; how much she loved people & having people visit – whether for a short time or overnight – the more the merrier!!; her excitement and love for Christmas – her favorite holiday and she loved having a houseful of all her “kids”; her all around kind, gentle, giving & loving nature; how much she loved all the family dogs; how much she loved talking about how we used to watch “The Walton’s” and “Little House on the Prairie” as a family every single week and how our self-proclaimed “Little Farm on Fairfax Drive” days were & always will be our best memories ever; how much she adored Miranda Lambert’s song, “The House that Built Me” and always said, “Miranda wrote it just for our very own family!”, how she always talked or answered with, “Darlin’”, “Sweetheart”, “Baby” or “Honey”; but more than anything we will miss her great “huggies” and her last words every night, “I love you – rest well.” Favorite Bible verse: 1 Corinthians 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. It is no secret; whether you knew Sue & Frank for a day or all their lives, you knew how much they loved each other.  Even at the end, she looked her doctor in the eyes & said, “I am ready to go be with “My Honey”.”  (even her doctor “filled up” a little with that one!) Sue (& Frank) both had the biggest hearts; their ability to enjoy even the smallest things in life was an eye opener to many who knew them. While growing up and living directly off of US Highway 1, we can remember more than a few times they would help a stranger with a broken down vehicle or someone just “down on their luck” and either give them a ride or offer our telephone and then even offer them to join our family for a meal. Without even knowing, they were a reminder to many of us of exactly what is most important in life; to always be kind, to always help a friend – even a stranger, family is everything, and no matter what it is – always try to do your best and to do it all with LOVE. Once a friend/always a friend, & “like a second Mom” to many, Sue will continue to live through all of us with the memories she etched on our hearts. Mom – we’ve only known “life with you” and as we move on in “life after you”, this is our hope; That time helps heal our sorrow, family and friends help ease our pain, & that God lets peace replace our heartache where loving memories of you remain. We love you, Mom – rest well. Until we meet again. The family would like to send a special thank you to family, friends and the many medical representatives who helped in any way of giving Sue the strength and the will to fight to live the last 3 ½ years without the love of her life which was far more harder than any disease she ever suffered. The family takes comfort in knowing, per their wishes, Frank & Sue are “Together Again” as their ashes are now combined and laid to final rest – no more “Blue Christmases” for Mama! – she is healthy, happy, free & finally – with “Her Honey” again. There will be a committal service on Monday, December 10th, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery, 5525 US Highway 1, Mims, FL 32754. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, The Veteran’s Administration, or your favorite church or animal shelter.