Roland ""Pete Walter Snyder

Roland Walter “Pete” Snyder, age 83, of Bayard, died January 31, 2017 at his home. Funeral services will be held at 2 PM on Saturday, February 4, 2017 at Cornerstone Fellowship Assembly of God Church in Bayard with Pastor Alvin Koski officiating. Burial will follow at the Bayard Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 10 AM to 2 PM on Saturday at the church. Memorials may be given to the church. Tributes of sympathy may be left at www.dugankramer.com

Roland was born Dec. 2, 1933, in Bayard, to Walter and Blanche (Wiley) Snyder and received his education at Bayard schools. He married Violet Ellard on January 13, 1951, in Scottsbluff, and they made their home in Bayard, raising four children. Early in his life, he explored several career options ranging from mining in Nevada to working in the timber industry in Oregon before returning to Nebraska. He worked at the Bayard sugar factory, ran plumbing, well-drilling and auto-repair businesses, including Snyder Auto & Implement in downtown Bayard. He retired from the Burlington Northern diesel-mechanic shop in Alliance, Neb., after 15 years. He owned, renovated and sold several properties and was an avid investor in stocks and bonds.

Having been born into the Great Depression and raised in the Dust Bowl years in Western Nebraska, Roland never forgot the value of a dollar and truly earned every one he made. Regardless of how successful he became, he saved his money, invested it wisely and maintained his matchless work ethic. Because of this, he was able to help family members time after time when needs arose. A strong-willed man who pulled himself up by his bootstraps, Roland was quick to acknowledge the hand of the Almighty in his life. Never one for extravagances, his vacations were spent driving long distances to visit his children, grandchildren and his siblings – which gave him a reason for his one indulgence, a new car every couple of years. His was a lifelong appreciation of automobiles, and he liked to tell stories of racing in the late 1940s, outrunning police to cross the county line and even jumping cars over a creek to do so.

Along with having an adventurous streak, he was a deep thinker, ravenous learner and keen observer of people, he understood each member of his family as an individual and did his best to help them in the ways he thought was best. Most family members would use the word “stubborn” to describe him, but would do so with a knowing, appreciative smile. After his wife of 50 years passed in 2001 and despite numerous health struggles, he lived independently for another 15 years in the house where he was born. Late in life, as he reflected on his large, extended family, he remarked with pride and gratitude that all of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren had “turned out to be really good people who know the Lord.”

Survivors include sisters Bonnie Lombard Schmidt and Norma Backer; daughter Barbara and her husband James Huben of Columbus, NE, their sons Jason, Brandon and Robert Hackett and their families; son Terry and his wife Carol of Bayard, their children Melissa and Justin; son Steve and his wife Kathy of Hastings, Neb., their sons Joshua and Michael Snyder and their families, and daughter Sheree; daughter Tamara and her husband Terry Haygood of Jacksonville, Fla., their daughters Cassandra and Karissa Hagemeister and son Drew Hagemeister and his wife; 18 great-grandchildren; and extended family members.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Violet, his sister Esther, brother Leland, sister Evelyn and granddaughter Amber.