Benjamin McClellan Snyder III
Benjamin McClellan Snyder III, the only son of Dorothy Palmer and Benjamin McClellan Snyder Jr., passed away on April 29, 2017 at the age of 96. Born in Philadelphia, Ben lived in his early years between his grandparents in St. Petersburg, Florida and his father in Pennsylvania. As a boy, he attended Camp Cedar Pines in the “Little Grand Canyon” of Pennsylvania where he ultimately purchased a 100 acre farm, his most treasured place on earth. Ben attended the University of North Carolina, graduating with a degree in English, Phi Beta Kappa and becoming a lifetime Tarheels’ fan. In 1943, he enlisted in the Air Force and was trained as a bombardier where he flew 41 missions in the Pacific. In 1947, Ben obtained a master’s in history from Harvard University. A year later, he accepted a history teaching position at Cranbrook School
in Michigan where he worked until his retirement in 1990. During his tenure he served in a number of capacities: history teacher, track coach, Assistant Head, and Director of Special and Summer programs. However, his greatest legacy is the Horizons Upward Bound program he founded at Cranbrook in 1965 to give low income youth from inner city Detroit an opportunity to realize the advantages of higher education. HUB has served over 2000 boys and girls from Greater Detroit for 50 years. A lifelong educator, Ben led a current events discussion group for residents of Ocean View until his final days. Ben is survived by his caring wife Margot, son Ben and his wife, Sarah, daughter Abby and her husband John Bennett, daughter, Amy, and four grandchildren, Abby, David, Donald, and Caroline. In lieu of flowers gifts in his memory can be made to Horizons Upward Bound.
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