Larry Lee Snider

1941 - 2025

Larry Lee Snider, 83, of Hart, was welcomed into the loving arms of his Savior, Jesus, Tuesday, September 23, 2025. He was born October 10, 1941, in Troy, Ohio, the son of Earl and Marguerite (Shroyer) Snider.

Larry grew up in Clark County, Ohio on a 500 acre grain farm near South Charleston, where his father, Earl, was a sharecropper. Eager to start his own career, Larry bought his own goats in high school and sold milk to buy his first dairy cow. Larry continued building his herd of registered Brown Swiss, graduated from high school in 1959, and was married to Becky Ropp in 1960. Together, they built their herd to 80 head by 1964. Through these first few years, Larry and Becky had two children, Andy and Abby. It was at this time that Earl and Larry bought their first farm when their landlord wanted to sell, so Larry and Becky sold the dairy herd to have enough money for their share of the down payment. In 1972 after the early passing of Larry's mom and Earl's wife, Marguerite, Earl and Larry decided to sell the farm and Larry and Becky moved 120 miles north to Ashland, Ohio and bought a dairy farm there.

Four years later, in 1976, after much expanding, Larry and Becky sold that farm and moved to Hart, Michigan where they bought the home place of the current Snider Farms. Larry and Becky, with Andy and Abby when they weren't in school, did all the work on the small farm. In those first few years they milked 29 cows in the old barn, had some asparagus and cherries, grew corn on sandy ground, and then added hogs in 1979, developing a much different farming operation than the Ohio roots.

Larry's son, Andy, graduated from high school in 1981, and was ready to join the farm full-time. Andy married Beth Riley, and in 1982 the two couples began farming together full-time. Larry was the senior partner at Snider Farms from 1982 through 1994, and the farm began expansions of the cows and hogs that have continued over the years since. It was also during this time that Larry spent 10 years on the Michigan Farm Bureau Board of Directors and enjoyed being involved in the local community. In December 1994, as the farm was expanding into turkeys, Larry and Becky decided to retire from farming and moved to Lady Lake, Florida full-time, to pursue warmer climate and other interests. Larry, never afraid to try something new, went to school to become a massage therapist. Larry graduated from massage therapy school and became an apprentice at a local office, and then after passing his state board license, opened his own business, quickly becoming very busy with his own clientele. Leesburg Massage Therapy was very successful and after 10 years, Larry retired again.

The latter half of this second career found Larry and Becky making trips 'Up North' to the panhandle of Florida, where they had bought a small acreage near Graceville. About one long weekend a month they would make these trips for remodeling and other beautification projects on their little farm. After selling their places in Leesburg/Lady Lake, and liquidating the inventory of Becky's silk flower business they move full-time to Graceville. Larry's love of goats found him purchasing Boer goats. They built a barn and fences and started building a herd over the next few years to as high as 100 head after all of the kids were born. This retirement hobby turned into a lot of work and eventually they sold the herd.... Larry began and ended his farming career with goats and had many other adventures in between.

In 2010, plans were made and construction of a retirement home near the farm in Hart began. Moving back just in time to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, Larry and Becky would oversee the construction of their new 'summer home', (since not being in snow was part of their plan!) The following year they enjoyed doing all of the finish work of the basement of the new home. Over the next 10 years, Larry enjoyed taking care of his garden and lawn, and doing useful things around the farm, always keeping busy.

Besides traveling to Florida during the cold months, they loved to play cards and go out for dinner....which they did both often. Larry always wanted to help where he could, even though these last year's saw him suffering with his Parkinson's disease.

Larry entered the Oceana County Medical Care Facility in October 2023, and always enjoyed Becky's daily visits. The staff there enjoyed Larry and took great care of him until his peaceful passing. Larry and Becky loved and took care of each other well over their 65 years of marriage.

Larry is survived by: his loving wife, Becky Snider; children, Aaron Andrew 'Andy' (Christine) Snider and Abby Arlene (Randy) Crow; grandchildren, Luke (Marissa) Snider, Holly (Jonathan) Buck, Amanda (Ernesto) Tovar, Nichole (Matt) Dibenedetto, Steve (Carly) Crow, and Priscilla Snider; great-grandchildren, Jaren Snider, Paxton Snider, Sawyer Snider, Violet Buck, Ava Buck, Hailee Scofield, Raegan Tovar, Brelen Tovar, Ava Tovar, Barrett Dibenedetto, Gunner Dibenedetto, Carson Crow, and Cameron Crow; and daughter-in-law of 39 years, Beth (Riley) (Snider) Butler.

Larry was preceded in death by: his parents, Earl and Marguerite Snider; sister, Linda Strickland; and grandson, Zackary Snider.

A memorial service for family and friends will be conducted at 2:00 PM, Saturday, October 4, 2025, at the Mears Methodist Church, 1990 North 56th Avenue, Mears, MI 49436, with Pastor Bev Williams officiating; there will be an ice cream and cake fellowship to follow.

Beacon Cremation & Funeral Service, King-Hart Chapel, is in charge of arrangements. www.beaconfh.com