Penny Lane Snyder

Penny (Penelope) Lane Snyder, 82, formerly of Washington, died in her home in Kennesaw, Ga., Wednesday, December 7, 2022, after a courageous six-month battle with end-stage Vascular Dementia. This battle caused her unending physical pain and mental anguish, but she continued to fight it to the very end. Her Vascular Dementia was in turn caused by a severe stroke that she had in 1991. Her determination to live her life as fully as she could despite these major impediments is evidence of the true fighter that she was.

Penny was born November 9, 1940, in Washington, the oldest of four children born to Perry and Charlotte Lane.

She grew up in the area and graduated from Claysville High School in 1958. She then attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1962 with a B.S. degree in Speech Pathology.

She worked for one year as a speech therapist in the McKean County school system before marrying Jim L. Snyder in June of 1963. She then worked as a speech therapist in the Cortland, New York City school system to support both herself and her husband while he studied for his PhD degree in Chemical Engineering at Cornell University. During that time, Penny and Jim welcomed their first two children, James Gregory and Laura Ellen, into their family.

Upon Jim receiving his degree in 1967, they moved to Oak Ridge, Tenn., where he began working in uranium enrichment research for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (now called the Department of Energy). They remained in Oak Ridge for the next 35 years while Jim held various positions at all three DOE Oak Ridge facilities located there.

During those 35 years, Penny and Jim welcomed two more children, Scott Langley and Patrick Joseph, into their family and Penny, besides being a loving mother and wife, also worked for a short time as a speech therapist at the Daniel Arthur Rehabilitation Facility in Oak Ridge. She then decided that she did not have enough to fully occupy her time so she attended Roane State Community College in Harriman, Tenn., to earn an Associate degree in Nursing, which then allowed her to become a registered nurse. Once she had her RN license, she switched careers and worked first as a nurse in the oncology unit of St. Mary's Hospital in Knoxville, Tenn., and then later as a nurse at the Ridgeview Psychiatric Hospital in Oak Ridge.

At the same time she began a third career as a fashion model for the 18 Karat Modeling Agency in Knoxville. During this career she appeared in newspaper ads for various local banks and clothing and department stores in the area and in a Time Magazine ad for the University of Tennessee evening school. Unfortunately, her career was suddenly ended when she suffered a major stroke in 1991. The stroke left her partially paralyzed, unable to speak, and in constant pain. Her chronic pain was made worse by the cold damp winter weather of East Tennessee. In an effort to reduce her suffering she and Jim moved to Sarasota, Fla., in 2002 and then later (2011) to Kennesaw to be closer to their family. They lived in Kennesaw until her death.

Penny was preceded in death by her parents, Perry and Charlotte Lane; and a younger brother, Gregory.

In addition to Jim, her loving husband of 59+ years, she is also survived by her four children, J. Gregory (Loretta) Snyder of Knoxville, Laura (John) Abernethy of Long Island, N.Y., Scott Langley (Mica) Snyder of Kennesaw, and Patrick Joseph (Gabriela) Snyder of Broadlands, Va.; and also by her sister, Sally Sutherland of Tampa, Fla.; brother, Perry (Paula) Lane Jr. of Washington; and 10 grandchildren.

In keeping with Penny's wishes, she was cremated and no services are planned.

Penny loved dogs and so in lieu of flowers, the family requests that any memorial contributions be made to a pet shelter of one's choice.