Veteran Adman and Silver Medal Recipient Dies

Story and photo from the Star-Telegram

Story by Mark Agee

Stray dogs would tug at David Snyder’s heartstrings. If he saw one while driving, he couldn’t resist inviting the animal into his station wagon so he could find it a home.

His plan didn’t always work.

"We ended up keeping a lot of them," said Marriane Snyder, his wife of 62 years. "The most we ever had at one time was five. You’re not supposed to have more than three, but no one ever told on us."

Mr. Snyder, of Fort Worth, a retired vice president of advertising for the Star-Telegram, died Saturday afternoon. He’d had Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases for the last few years. He was 85.

He grew up in Fort Worth and graduated from Arlington Heights High School. He joined the Army Air Forces during World War II as a gunnery instructor and flight engineer in the Pacific Theater.

He met his future wife while delivering groceries for his uncle’s store, and the two married after he returned from the war. He got a job at the Fort Worth Press, where he worked his way up to advertising manager. In 1952, the Star-Telegram hired him as a retail advertising salesman. He became a vice president in 1981.

Mr. Snyder was also a fisherman and a gardener. He owned a racing boat, sports cars and a pecan orchard near Granbury, but he was all work on weekdays, a former co-worker said.

He won the prestigious Silver Medal Award from the American Advertising Federation. He not only didn’t take vacations but gently chided others who did, said former Publisher Wes Turner, who was hired by Snyder.

"He had a great heart, and he was a real father figure for a lot of us," Turner said.
Mr. Snyder was also a bit of a prankster, said Melinda Mason, who worked for him and is now community relations manager for the paper.

Mr. Snyder once convinced her that he cooked his Thanksgiving turkey each year over the chimney on his rooftop.

"It was really elaborate. He said his neighbors would watch, and he described a wire basket he would put the turkey in," Mason said. "He was making fun of my naivete, and I really fell for it."
His daughter, Kelle Snyder Hill of Houston, had not heard that story but she said she wasn’t surprised.

"He was so precious," she said.

Mr. Snyder is also survived by his son, Tracy Snyder of Benbrook.