Basil Snider Jr.

SNIDER, Basil “Bas”, Jr., 85, of Midlothian, passed away, quietly at home to be with the Lord, on Monday, October 15, 2012, following a brief period of illness. He was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, on March 12, 1927. Basil was married to Betty Palmer, also from Parkersburg, on August 17, 1947. Basil was a veteran, who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, from 1945 to 1946. Mr. Snider held a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, graduating from West Virginia University (WVU) in 1950. After graduating, Mr. Snider joined American Cyanamid Company from 1950 to 1974, where he held various management positions, including plant manager of operations in the Mid-Ohio Valley (Parkersburg, W.Va.) area and New Orleans, Louisiana. In the late mid to later 1960s, Mr. Snider worked at American Cyanamid’s Corporate Offices in Wayne, New Jersey; and was later General Manager of Davis & Geck Suture Division of the Lederle Pharmaceutical Division of American Cyanamid. During the early 1970s, Mr. Snider was Vice President of Manufacturing for the American Cyanamid subsidiary, the Formica Corporation, in Cincinnati, Ohio. In the mid 1970s, Mr. Snider was Vice President of Manufacturing for the Sodyeco Division of Martin Marietta Corporation. In 1977, Mr. Snider joined the Garden State Paper Company (Division of Media General, Inc.) as Executive Vice President. Later, he became President (1978) of Garden State Paper Company, Inc. In July of 1989, Basil Snider, Jr., joined Media General, Inc. in Richmond as Vice President and also served as Vice Chairman and CEO of Garden State Paper Company. During that time, he was responsible for Media General’s newsprint holdings in New Jersey, Georgia, and Mexico. Mr. Snider also served as chairman of the Garden State Paper Technologies Group. Although he retired from Media General on February 28, 1993, he continued to work through a consulting agreement with Media General, which continued his oversight of their newsprint business and maintained the Vice Presidency of Media General as well as Vice Chairman of the Board of Garden State Paper Co. until 1995, when he fully retired. Mr. Snider was a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Management Association and the Paper Industry Management Association. He was a former chairman of the Paper Recycling Committee of the American Paper Institute’s Paperboard Group and was a member of the Board of the American Paper Institute and the Executive Committee of the Paperboard Group. Mr. Snider was a former director of the United States Business and Industrial Council and also served on the board of its Educational Foundation. He was a former director of Keep America Beautiful and Keep Virginia Beautiful. Basil Snider is survived by a loving wife of 65years, Betty Palmer Snider, of Midlothian; sons, Brian Jay Snider and his wife Kate, of Richmond, David Alan Snider and his wife Linda, of Mineral Wells, W.Va.; daughter, Cynthia Marie Gerber and her husband Kirk, of Mesa, Arizona; seven grandchildren, Nathan, Matthew, Adam, Katie, Brian, Madison and Blake; four step-grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren, Corbin, Gabriel, Ellie and Brendon. Mr. Snider was an avid skier, who enjoyed snow-skiing with his family and friends in West Virginia, Colorado, Utah and other areas within the United States. He enjoyed playing golf with friends, business associates and family. Mr. Snider was an active member of Salisbury Presbyterian Church in Midlothian and served God on several mission team trips to Haiti, including agricultural projects, building fishing ponds (to provide food), and installing a water supply and plumbing system to help construct a missionary complex to provide housing for other missionary teams that periodically come and go to the area. He was also active within his church choir and enjoyed teaching adult and youth Sunday school classes. Basil was preceded in death by his mother and father, Basil and Ruth Snider of Parkersburg, W.Va. Basil was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather and a dedicated servant of the Lord, who was clearly the center of every aspect of his life. Dad was a character (great sense of humor) and also was a man of character. He will be greatly missed by all who were fortunate enough to know him. A memorial service will be held at Salisbury Presbyterian Church in Midlothian, at 2 p.m. Saturday, October 20, 2012. The service will be officiated by The Reverend Dr. Lawrence Chottiner. A reception will immediately follow the memorial service at church. Great appreciation is expressed to all who have helped and offered comfort during this time. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Haiti Fund, Inc., 400 New Street, New Bern, N.C. 28560, phone (252) 635-5323 or Salisbury Presbyterian Church, 13621 W. Salisbury Road, Midlothian, Va. 23113, phone (804) 794-5311. Online condolences to WoodyFuneralHomeHuguenot.com.