NameJudy Ann LeGore ![](../img/i_tree.png)
Birth9 Jun 1951, Oregon
Spouses
Birth7 Jun 1933, Greer, Clearwater Co., Idaho
Death15 Aug 2008, Pendleton, Umatilla Co., Oregon
Marriage9 Jun 1976, Coeur d'Alene, Kootenai Co., Idaho
Notes for Judy Ann LeGore
Living in Pendleton, OR in 2000; 2009
Notes for Melvin Delano (Spouse 1)
Living in Pendleton, OR in 2000
Melvin was born in Fraser, at Nola’s home, about 1/2 mile from Fraser Cemetery.
Uncle Mel died Aug. 15 2008, 3 days after I visited him and Aunt Judy in Pendleton [ccs]
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Melvin Delano Snyder, 75, died at his home suddenly August 15 in Pendleton, Oregon. “Mel” was born in Greer, Id. to Milton Cooper Snyder and Marie Pritchard Snyder, the second of two sons. In 1944 after his father’s untimely death the family moved to Lewiston Idaho where he graduated from Lewiston High School in 1951. He worked at Potlatch Lumber Mill until joining the army in 1953. After discharge in 1955, he focused on academics attending Linfield College, University of Idaho, Portland State and Brigham Young University. In between semesters he rode bulls and competed as a “bull dogger” at rodeos all over the northwest as a member of the Rodeo Cowboys Association.
In 1961, following his university studies, he joined General Electric and later Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories Institute as an engineer at the Department of Energy Hanford Site near Richland, Washington. He co-authored numerous studies involving radioactive toxins; works that are still referenced in current research. In 1971 his passion for horses pushed him to quit all his engineering work and move to California where he trained horses at Los Alamitos Race Course for several years.
His roots in the Northwest brought him to Pendleton, Oregon in 1975. He met the love of his life that summer, Judy Ann LeGore, pursuing and winning her heart. They married in 1976.
He spent the next 32 years of his life with his beloved Judy in Pendleton. He worked for SimTag in eastern Oregon as a field manager and later owned Frontier Transportation.
Mel loved horses, rodeo, hunting, and fishing. He never would miss any opportunity for a great story. His wife Judy Ann Snyder and older brother Milton Lee Snyder along with his great nephew Ozzie Clayton and in-laws Jack LeGore, Rick LeGore, Dave LeGore and Sherri Wier survive him. Others suffering his passing include nephews Brent Snyder, Craig Snyder, Mark Snyder and Matthew Snyder.
Larger than life, Mel Snyder’s grin and gritty words along with his ability to make anyone laugh will be mourned by all.