Phyllis A. Snyder

Phyllis Arlene (Gingrich) Snyder, 87, entered God’s eternal kingdom on April 7, 2020. A resident of Chapel Pointe, Carlisle, Cumberland County at the time of her death, Phyllis was born in Harrisburg, PA on May 31, 1932 to the late Earl and Mary (Mumma) Gingrich, the fifth of eight siblings. She was married to the late Robert L. Snyder in 1950, shortly before his call to active duty with the U.S. Navy during the Korean Conflict. Phyllis spent her time as a “Navy wife” living in Cambridge, Mass. while Bob was out to sea in the South Atlantic. They returned to the Harrisburg area upon his discharge and subsequently lived near Harrisburg, in Williamsport, PA, and ultimately, Mechanicsburg, Hampden Township, Cumberland County.

Phyllis (“Phyl” to all who knew her) was a 1950 graduate of Lower Paxton High School and completed numerous continuing education programs in subsequent years. During her working years she served as an operator for Bell Telephone Co. of Pennsylvania, as Director of Volunteers for Divine Providence Hospital in Williamsport, PA and as a devoted homemaker, wife and mother. For 13 years she served with her husband as volunteer trip coordinators and tour guides with the Mechanicsburg Senior Center.

Phyllis was a long-time member of Mechanicsburg Presbyterian Church, and previously, a founding and charter member of Christ United Methodist Church in suburban Harrisburg. Her diverse interests included many arts and crafts, baking, cooking and home-canning, gardening, genealogical research and a late-in-life discovered talent for water painting, which she took up during her time residing at Harmony at West Shore. She was also a former member of the DeHaven Club and the Huguenot Society of Central Pennsylvania.

Phyllis was predeceased by her parents, three brothers and two sisters, and her husband of 62 years, Bob. She is survived by her son Robert Snyder II and wife Christine of Spring, Texas, son Randall Snyder and wife Floann of Carlisle, PA, grandchildren Lynn (husband William) Swain, Robert Snyder III, Laura (husband Josh) Good, Michael Snyder, Elizabeth (husband Christopher) De La Cruz, great-grandsons Julian, Jaxon and Jeren Good, her brother Richard Gingrich and wife Barbara of Sun City Center, FL, and her sister Marion Knight of Colonial Park, Harrisburg, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

Phyl’s family would like to extend sincere appreciation to the staffs at Harmony at West Shore, Chapel Pointe in Carlisle and Hospice of Central Pennsylvania for their care and compassion towards her in her final months and days.

Due to current government restrictions on public gatherings, visitation and burial services will be private for immediate family only. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date to be determined. Memorial contributions in Phyllis’s memory can be made to Alzheimer’s Disease Research, Hospice of Central Pennsylvania or Mechanicsburg Presbyterian Church, 300 E. Simpson Street, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055.