Friends remember Cohocton native Devin Snyder
U.S. Army specialist, 20, killed Saturday in Afghanistan. AP.An Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Spc. Devin A. Snyder during a dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Monday. According to the Department of Defense, Snyder, of Cohocton, died while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

by Andrew Poole
The Evening Tribune
Posted Jun 07, 2011 @ 08:54 AM


Cohocton, N.Y. — There isn’t just one memory of Devin Snyder that stands out to Micalah Sick. It might be when Sick, now 17, was in eighth grade and looked up to Snyder as both a soccer player and mentor. It might be later, when the two would drive to the Food Mart and wolf down popsicles before track practice.

Regardless, Sick, a senior at Wayland-Cohocton, knows what Snyder’s place is with her and in the Cohocton community.

“She was my hero. I looked up to her. If I needed to talk to anybody, she’d listen. She helped me grow up,” said Sick. “She’s a local hero. She’ll always be a hero for us.”

Two days after Snyder, 20, was killed by an improvised explosive device while serving as a specialist in the U.S. Army Military Police in Afghanistan, flags across Cohocton hovered at half-mast in mourning. Town Supervisor Jack Zigenfus said flags would remain at half-mast until the completion of Snyder’s funeral services.

Snyder, a Cohocton native, was deployed to Afghanistan in April, and due to come home for two weeks in July.

In Monday’s Tribune, family members remembered her as strong-willed and compassionate, whose heart was always set on joining the service.
“She would give somebody the shirt off her back,” said her mother, Dineen Snyder, in Monday’s Tribune. “She would have taken a bullet for anybody.”

Part of a family with a long line of service, Snyder spoke of joining the military throughout high school. Her father, Ed Snyder, is a U.S. Navy veteran, and her sister Natasha Snyder, 23, is serving in the navy and her brother Damien Snyder, 19, is serving in the U.S. Army.

“That was going to be her career. She wanted this since high school and she was the type of person who know what she wanted and worked her butt of for it,” said her uncle, Ron Snyder, in Monday’s Tribune.

Sara Stone, 20, a friend and teammate of Snyder’s in high school who has lived across the street from the Snyder family for two years, said it was unbelievable Snyder was killed.

“She was always strong about everything, in every situation,” said Stone. “I hadn’t talked with her in a couple years. I wished I had.”

Two of Snyder’s soccer coaches, Julie Martin and Bill Sick, remembered her as a player whose fiery energy inspired teammates.

“She was a very spirited girl. She had a little spitfire in her. She put her heart and soul into whatever she did. If she was going to do something, she was going to do it all out and not hold back,” said Martin.

“Whatever anybody needed, she’d do without hesitation. That was her nature,” added Bill Sick.

Wayland-Cohocton Superintendent Michael Wetherbee said the school was planning on honoring Snyder, but wanted to work with her family on the memorial.

“A lot stood out about Devin,” said Wetherbee. “She was a wonderful young lady in high school, a very, very good athlete in soccer and track, and an extremely likeable student when she was here.

“Obviously, she came from a family where military service is important. We put the highest regard on students who want to pursue that noble profession.”

Area politicians also expressed their grief and appreciation for Snyder’s sacrifice and their support for her family.

“It’s always troublesome to me when war hits home, when our young men and women pay the ultimate sacrifice,” said Congressman Tom Reed in a conference call Monday. “My thoughts and prayers go out to her family.”

State Senator Tom O’Mara, R- Big Flats, also expressed his sadness at Snyder’s death in a release Monday.

“I know that I join the community of Cohocton and the residents of Steuben County and our entire region in mourning Devin’s passing and in expressing our enduring gratitude and respect for her service,” he said.

Snyder is survived by her parents, Ed and Dineen Snyder; two brothers, Derek (Mariah) Snyder, 28, and Damien Snyder, 19; a sister, Natasha Snyder, 23; and a niece, Ariel.

Funeral arrangements are still incomplete as of Monday afternoon, but will be handled by Walter E. Baird & Sons Funeral Home in Wayland.