Robert T. Snyder Of Sag Harbor Dies December 10

Robert T. Snyder, known as Bob, died in his sleep on December 10 at his Sag Harbor home after returning from a rehearsal with the Sag Harbor Community Band for its annual holiday concert. He was 84.

Mr. Snyder also lived in New York City and spent every January in Sanibel, Florida. Born in the Bronx on April 7, 1930, he grew up in Long Beach, where he worked as a lifeguard when he was a teenager. A Columbia College and Columbia Law School graduate, he continued his support of Columbia as president of his Columbia College alumni class. He worked as a labor lawyer and served 19 years as a judge with the National Labor Relations Board. In recent years he worked as an arbitrator.

An avid sportsman, starting with his award as Best All Around Athlete in summer camp, Mr. Snyder continued to play tennis throughout his life and closely followed the Columbia football, basketball and baseball teams. Beginning with playing jazz as a teenager and then at Columbia College as manager of the marching band, he turned to classical music as an adult and participated in chamber music groups in Sag Harbor, Manhattan and Sanibel. He also played clarinet for many years in the Sag Harbor Community Band.

Sag Harbor had been his second home since 1970. He was a contributor to the book “Voices of Sag Harbor,” a collection of oral histories about the village.

Survivors said he was passionate about his music, as well as the law, fairly considered and executed, as an essential component of our democracy.

Mr. Snyder is survived by his wife, Elaine Congress; a son, Adam Snyder; a daughter-in-law, Cece Cutler; a grandson, Jack Snyder; a cousin, Joan Snyder; and Adam Snyder’s mother, Patricia Stegman. A service was held on Sunday, December 14, at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in Sag Harbor. A memorial service is planned for Saturday, March 28, at 2 p.m. at the Princeton/Columbia Club, 15 West 43rd Street in New York City. For more details, email congress@fordham.edu.

Memorial donations may be made to Amnesty International, www.amnestyusa.org; Doctors without Borders, www.doctorswithoutborders.org; Channel 13 (PBS), www.thirteen.org; or American Friends Service Committee, www.afsc.org.