Betty A. (Blackburn) Snyder

Betty A Snyder, 95, of Kokomo, went home to be with the Lord at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at Ascension St Vincent 86th Street Hospital in Indianapolis.  She was born December 12, 1930, in Miami County to Emsley Otis and Mary Gladys (Miller) Blackburn.  Betty was the third child in a threesome following brother Everett and sister Norma Jean, each about two years apart.  She also had two half-brothers, Richard and Clarence Bowland from her mother’s previous marriage.  They were close-knit siblings maintaining a friendship that lasted throughout their lifetimes.  

As a young girl Betty helped with chores at her uncle’s farms, as well as working in her father’s gas station/storefront on Strawtown Pike.  Little did she think that her future husband would be one of the boys who came to her father’s station from time to time and who was friends with brothers Everett and Clarence, and her sister Norma Jean’s future husband, Ervin Marner.  

The gas station and store which her father owned was located just down the road from Clay school where many boys visited the station for pop and candy.  During World War II, students from Clay High School were asked to write letters to someone they knew in the service.  Betty arbitrarily picked Jack Snyder.  That letter led to an ongoing exchange of letters which began to kindle a relationship.  Following his return home they began dating, and Jack and Betty were married on August 24, 1950 by Tom Shively, a minister and Principal of Clay School.

Their first child, Sharon (Jim McKibben), was born in 1954.  She was followed by Norman (Kathy) in 1957, and Joyce (Darrell Colburn) in 1959.  She was grandmother to Jeremy (Andrea) Snyder, Mat (Valerie) Snyder, Kelly (Mark) Walton, Jennifer Hain (Troy Goodman), Jami (Jake) Warren and Jessica (Vince) Vlazney; great grandma to Faith, Danielle, Wesley (spouse Sam), Hailey, Kendall, Kaylah, Mason, Ethan, Leah, Eli, and Owen; and great-great grandmother to Mariah and Siena.

Betty retired from Delco Electronics with 30 years’ service.  She was a member of U.A.W. Local #292 and the Bennetts Switch Community Church.  Betty was a loving mother and grandmother; and enjoyed the friendship of many acquaintances and neighbors through her years.   She also enjoyed cooking, tending flowers and watching the birds from her kitchen window.  

She was preceded in death by husband, Jack, daughter Sharon McKibben, her parents and siblings, Clarence, Richard, Everett and Norma Jean. 

Services will be held at a later date. 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Betty A. (Blackburn) Snyder, please visit our floral store.