|
QUAY CARLTON SNYDER, the oldest of four children, was born in Dallastown, PA, to M.S. Quay Snyder and Mary Lentz Snyder. Following graduation from high school, Quay enlisted in the Marine Corps, serving two years as an aircraft crew chief. He then enrolled at Tufts University in Bedford, MA, where he earned his pilot’s certificate at age 19. During this period, he served in the Naval Reserve and worked as an actor to pay for flight training so he could travel back to State College, PA, to visit his high school sweetheart and future wife Joan Bergdoll.
Quay entered West Point as a 21-year-old plebe. At USMA, Quay struggled with the Dean, but played lacrosse, performed well militarily, and commanded company K-1. On 8 Jun 1954, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Infantry and married Joan. They had waited 10 years to wed.
As a second lieutenant, Quay’s first assignment was to Airborne and Ranger Schools at Ft. Benning, GA. He then served as a platoon leader in the 82nd Airborne Division, Ft. Bragg, NC. In June 1957, he was assigned to U.S. Army, Europe in Germany as a transportation officer in Bremerhaven. Quay then served as a company commander in Munich and NCO Instructor in Bad Tolz, Germany. Upon his return to the U.S., he completed Rotary Wing and Fixed Wing Aviation Schools and then transferred to Armor branch with assignment to Ft. Knox, KY. In 1963 he earned a master’s degree in industrial administration from Purdue University. From 1963 to 1964, CPT Snyder served as an aide-decamp and pilot for the commanding general of I Corps, U.S. Forces Korea. From 1964 to 1965, he attended CGSC.
Quay then returned to West Point. He was a tactical officer and instructor in the Department of Military Psychology and Leadership, officer representative for the 150- pound football team and the cadet Protestant Sunday School teachers, and a pilot for the cadet parachuting team. Joan and Quay also sponsored many cadets. Quay and his family frequently spent weekends and weekday evenings with cadets and friends at Lake Stillwell and Lake Popolopen.
Promoted to lieutenant colonel, Quay was in Viet Nam from July 1968 to August 1969. There he was a staff officer in the 1st Air Cavalry Division and then commanded the 229th Air Assault Battalion in Tay Ninh Province, flying 273 combat missions. He then returned to West Point as an associate professor of Military Psychology and Leadership. During off-duty hours, he completed studies at NYU, earning the Founders Day Distinguished Graduate Award, along with his Ph.D. in public administration and personnel management.
Quay graduated from the Army War College in 1973 and remained in Carlisle, PA, as director of Financial Management Studies and director of Faculty and Student Development at the War College. While on a one-year sabbatical from the War College, he completed a post-doctoral fellowship as special assistant to the president of Shippensburg State College. On 9 May 1978 at the War College, Quay retired from the military in the rank of colonel. His military awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Meritorious Service medal, the Air Medal for Valor with 21 oak leaf clusters, Army Commendation Medal with cluster, several foreign awards, the Parachutist Badge, the Ranger Tab, and the Senior Aviators Badge with over 6,000 flying hours.
As a civilian, Dr. Snyder was the executive director of the University Center (a consortium of five Pennsylvania colleges and universities) at Harrisburg, PA, from 1978 until 1985. From 1985 to 1987, he was a senior manager for Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Pennsylvania. In 1987, he began work as an education associate in the Division of Teacher Education for the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
In 1988, Quay became the Visiting Professor, Department of Management, U.S. Air Force Academy. Enjoying this assignment immensely, he was at the Air Force Academy while his two sons were also teaching there. Quay drew energy and enthusiasm from the USAFA cadets, proclaiming them “the finest young people in the nation.”
Quay’s untimely death sadly occurred only two years after his assignment to Colorado Springs. Since then, the members of the faculty of USAFA’s Department of Management have annually presented the Dr. Quay C. Snyder Memorial Award to the officer-instructor who best excels in giving of himself/ herself for the betterment of the cadets and who serves as a role model for the cadets. The plaque is displayed prominently in the department. It includes Quay Snyder’s professional biography and lists the award winners.
Despite his professional achievements and awards, Quay was proudest of his family — his loving and devoted wife, Joan, who sustained him and shared his love for 36 years; their two sons; and their daughter. The elder son, Dr. Quay Snyder, Jr., USAFA ’77, known as “Trooper,” is a retired colonel and president of Virtual Flight Surgeons, Inc. He is married to Dr. Beth Murdaugh. BG David Snyder USAFA ’78, known as “Tanker,” commands the 6th Air Mobility Wing, MacDill AFB, FL. He is married to Tammy (whom he met on a blind date set up by his dad). Quay and Joan’s daughter Joanna is a graduate of the University of California, Berkley. She is currently on the staff at the California Polytechnic State University, where she works with various Department of Defense programs. Quay and Joan have four grandchildren, Dane and Sara, whom he knew, and Quay III and Claire, born after his death.
Quay left our world at the happiest time of his life, serving an institution and country he believed in, surrounded by youthful hope for the future and in the loving arms of his family.
— His son, Dr. Quay C. Snyder, Jr.
|
