For Wes Snyder, the funeral business is a calling.
“You get to help people in a time of need,” Snyder said. He is the vice president and chief financial officer of Snyder Funeral Homes and great-grandson of the founder.
The business has been owned by his family for nearly a century; starting in 1922, when Ora Snyder purchased his first funeral home in Johnsville.
Wes Snyder was born and raised in Mount Vernon and decided as a sophomore in high school that he wanted to join the family business. His son will become the fifth generation of his family to join the business after he completes mortuary science school.
The business has changed over the years in many ways, Snyder told the Mount Vernon News.
“We offer livestreaming of funeral services now,” he said. “We also then save the services to our Facebook account so families can go back a year from now and watch their services if they want.”
The funeral home has an extensive media department now; with customized memorial folders, videos and personal displays that “celebrate a life well-lived,” Snyder said. It also has a crematorium on site in Mount Vernon for those who choose that service.
“We don’t contract with anyone else to do our cremations,” he said.
Snyder Funeral Homes offers the opportunity to pre-plan and pre-pay for funeral services, which can reduce stress for grieving family members later.
“We have a dedicated person who does pre-arranging, that’s their expertise” Snyder said. “Whether it’s pre-funded or not, I still recommend coming in and writing down what you want. That eliminates a lot of questions for your kids. Have something written down so that if something happens to you unexpectedly, your kids don’t have questions about what Mom or Dad want.”
From that first funeral home in Johnsville, Snyder Funeral Homes has grown over the generations. It now has 13 funeral homes and four crematoriums.
In 1926, Ora Snyder bought the Manier Seminary in Lexington and converted it into a funeral home. In 1941, he purchased the A.A. Shafer Funeral Home in Bellville. During World War II, his wife, Marion Snyder, obtained her funeral director's license and assisted Ora in operating the three funeral homes. The family purchased Flowers Funeral Home in Mount Vernon in 1981.
Although Snyder Funeral Homes will soon be 100 years old, its mission is still the same: “To provide the finest quality services and facilities at reasonable prices,“ Wes Snyder said.
