Barbara June Snyder

SARASOTA, FL – June Snyder, age 103, passed away peacefully on November 24, 2020, at the Heartland Health Care Center in Sarasota, in the room in which she had lived since 2008. She enjoyed a beautiful view, surrounded by photographs and mementos of her life, beginning each day reading the New York Times, and otherwise devoting herself to books on a multitude of topics. We always had to be on our toes when we called if we hadn’t read the NYT that morning. She was a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota.

She was born Barbara June Kramer on June 12, 1917, in Springfield, Ohio, the daughter of John George Kramer, PhD, and Ruth Snyder Kramer. She was preceded in death by her husband, William Ulrich Snyder in 2001, and by her only sibling, Douglas Ramsey Kramer, of Worthington, Ohio in 1993. Aunt June is survived by many nieces and nephews including (from June’s brother Douglas R. Kramer), Douglas Alan Kramer, MD, MS, and Janet Kramer Fujka; and (from Bill’s older brother Luther), Donald H. Snyder, Gail Snyder Vendt, and Lynn Snyder Fairweather; and (from Bill’s younger brother Henry), Grayson Snyder, Karen Snyder Brown, and Douglas Kirk Snyder, PhD.

June graduated from Wittenberg College in Springfield, Ohio, and then earned a Masters degree in Psychology from The Ohio State University in 1943. She took a psychometrics class the summer of 1942. She received a grade of D on the mid-term from the graduate assistant instructor, William Ulrich Snyder (1915 – 2001), who would earn his PhD in Psychology, also in 1943. Bill’s major professor and thesis advisor at Ohio State was Carl Rogers, PhD, who in 1961 published, On Becoming a Person, which Bill subsequently used in his teaching of humanistic psychology.

Aunt June went to see him about the grade, and he said, “Miss Kramer, you seem to be an intelligent woman, what happened?” When interviewed at age 100, she pointedly mentioned that he did not ask her for a date until after the course concluded, Miss Kramer having by then earned a grade of B. “So afterwards, he called and asked if I would like to go out with him. So, I did and we talked. I took a course in marriage, and learned that before you marry a man, you need to know who he is.”

They were married in March 1943 by Bill’s father, Rev. Dr. Henry William Snyder, Sr., DD of Washington, DC. The bride wore a suit instead of a dress, still proud of being ahead of her time at age 96 when she told the story. They honeymooned at the historic Granville Inn in Granville, Ohio. They were together for 58 years until Bill’s death in March 2001 at the age of 85. They did not have children.

After graduation and marriage, June and Bill moved to Des Moines, Iowa where Bill directed one of the earliest Child Guidance Clinics, and June worked as a school psychologist. They moved back to Columbus in 1944 for one year where Bill was an Assistant Professor at Ohio State University. From 1945 to 1962, they were in State College, Pennsylvania, living in a beautiful secluded home with a garden pond. At Penn State University, Bill directed one of the first psychotherapy research programs in the country, taught graduate level psychotherapy classes, while June taught introductory psychology part-time.

In 1962, they left State College for Athens, Ohio. Bill was Chair of the Psychology Department, and Director of Clinical Training, at Ohio University. In Athens, they again lived in a beautiful home overlooking the city, a home that Bill helped to build. June and Bill always had beautiful art in their homes, much of it created by Bill working in a variety of media. In retirement, they moved initially to an apartment in the same building in which June’s parents had lived in Sarasota, Florida, and subsequently to other addresses, until June moved to Heartland.

JUNE’S STATEMENT for her obituary: “My parents were young, probably 17 and 19 years of age, and I was born when they were 18 and 20. I was fortunate that I had parents who valued education. In those days, if you were educated and worked hard, anyone could become president (not girls of course). When I became 100, I was not just lucky; I had good parents who gave me good genes. I lived in a safe neighborhood. We were poor, we used everything, and we made do. The most important persons in my life were my parents and my husband. I was happiest in the years I was married. I was married for 58 years. My husband was very intelligent and kind. We did as many things together as we could. The only thing that was a problem to us was his health. He had two major operations at the Mayo Clinic. His mother died when she was 45, and his older brother when he was 55. So, from the beginning, we knew we would have to be careful with his diet and exercise. We were very happy together. Whenever he took a job, e.g., he insisted he would only do so if I was given part-time work. Bill died in 2001. I lived for a time in a one-bedroom apartment. Then, when it became too much to handle, some of my relatives came to see me, and helped me decide where to live, so I came to Heartland. I’ve been here since 2008. I am now 100. I cannot foretell the future.” (Transcribed by D. Kramer, March 15-16, 2018)

Johnson S. Savary, Jr., a very good friend of hers for many years, will scatter June’s ashes in the Atlantic Ocean.