J. Robert (Bob) Snyder, an Albert Lea native, passed away in Sun City West, Ariz., on March 2, 2008. He was 85 years old.

Bob was born in Lake Crystal, on Dec. 11, 1922, to Clara Bentson and James M. (J.M.) Snyder. He attended Albert Lea High School and graduated in 1941. Following graduation, he enrolled at Albert Lea Junior College, and the following summer began at the University of Minnesota. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps (now the U.S. Air Force) in the fall of 1942 and served in the European Theater. Upon discharge in 1946, he married his childhood sweetheart, Jeanne Bagley in May. He resumed his studies at U of M that summer, graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1949. Bob and Jeanne had two sons and raised their family in Richfield. Jeanne passed away in 1991 in Sun City, Ariz.

Following a position as chief mechanical engineer with Opus Corp. in Minneapolis, he began his own consulting practice in 1967. In 1984, he and Jeanne moved from Lake Waconia, to Sun City, Ariz., and Bob continued with his consulting practice until his retirement in 1993.

Bob participated in several organizations, including YMCA boards and committees, Rotary International, ASHRAE, and Minnesota Alumni Association. He was also an avid photographer and hiker. He was a member of Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Sun City West, Ariz.

He is survived by his second wife, Christine Storck Snyder; sons Rev. James A. (Jamille), Richfield, and Gregory S. (Jessica), Missouri City, Texas; sisters Jean Peterson, Hutchinson, and Patricia Chipera (Tom), Mission, Texas; and grandsons Jason (Sheila) of Washington, D.C. and Jonah, Halifax, Novia Scotia, Canada, as well as their mother, Danuta Snyder, Halifax.

Services were held in Sun City West on March 6, with committal at the National Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Phoenix at a later date. The family prefers memorials to the Alzheimer&8217;s Association, the Sun Health Research Institute (study of age-related diseases), or to the Lord of Life Memorial Fund designated for the Library.