William Snyder, SEPTA district manager

William H. Snyder was a good enough baseball player as a teenager that his high school wouldn't allow him to play.

Northeast High School in Philadelphia "didn't play him because he was getting paid in a sandlot league," son William A. said.

To show that his father made a splash, the son read from an undated 1940s photo caption in the Evening Bulletin:

"Bill Snyder, safe at third, on one of his three stolen bases yesterday, as he pitched Cohocksink to the Northern District junior playground title with a 2-1 victory over East Germantown juniors."

The caption does not say whether the game was played at what is now Cohocksink Recreation Center in Port Richmond.

On Tuesday, May 24, Mr. Snyder, 91, a former SEPTA district manager, died at the Vineland (N.J.) Veterans Home. He had been at the home for the last 13 months. Before that, he was a 25-year resident of Williamstown.

Born in Philadelphia, he grew up near Belgrade and Ann Streets in Port Richmond, graduated from Northeast High School in 1942 and, during World War II, served as a Navy electrician on a transport ship in the South Pacific.

Mr. Snyder's athletic ability - he weighed in the 170s and stood 5-foot-11 - worked well in the Navy, too.

"He was a very good boxer," his son said, and while his ship was in Hawaii, he won an approved fight, which gave his unit some extra shore leave.

Mr. Snyder began his transit career in 1946 for the former Philadelphia Transportation Co., driving the Route 56 trolley along Allegheny Avenue, the Route 3 bus on Kensington Avenue, and the Route 5 bus on Frankford Avenue, his son said.

After about a decade on the streets, his son said, Mr. Snyder became a driving instructor in the late 1950s.

In the 1960s, PTC made Mr. Snyder a supervisor of some of its lines and, after SEPTA took over PTC in 1968, he became an assistant superintendent at the Frankford Depot, his son said.

In the late 1970s, SEPTA made him a district supervisor, roaming "from depot to depot every few years," sorting out problems along the way, he said.

His last responsibility was as district manager from 1980 to 1984, his son said, meaning he was in charge of half of the system's depots.

Besides his son, Mr. Snyder is survived by Evelyn, his wife of 60 years; a brother; three grandsons; and six great-grandchildren.

Viewings were set from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, May 26, and 10 to 11 a.m. Friday, May 27, both at the Farnelli Funeral Home 504 N. Main St., Williamstown, before an 11 a.m. funeral there.

Donations may be sent to Gloucester County Veterans Memorial Cemetery Fund, Box 337, Woodbury, N.J. 08096.

Condolences may be offered to the family at www.farnellifuneralhome.com.

wnaedele@phillynews.com

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