Levi Snyder, age 89, passed away peacefully at his home in Reeds, MO, on January 25, 2025. A celebration of his life will take place at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, January 28, 2025, at Center Point Christian Church, 11995 County Road 80, Carthage, MO. The family will receive visitors prior to the service from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Levi’s earthly body will be laid to rest at Fasken Cemetery.
Carrol “Levi” Snyder was born to Ira and Lena Snyder on November 15, 1935. He was the 10th of 11 children born in their home, located just half a mile east of Levi’s present-day residence. He is survived by his wife Catherine Snyder, two sons, Mike Snyder of Reeds, MO, and Pat Snyder of Sarcoxie, MO, two daughters, Valerie Berry of Carthage, MO, and Melissa Butcher of Molokai, HI, 13 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by all 10 of his siblings and his youngest son, Matthew Snyder. Levi graduated from Sarcoxie High School in 1953 and began working for the lumber yard in Avilla, MO. A few years later he married his one and only sweetheart, Catherine McDaniel, on June 2, 1957, at Center Point Christian Church, where both had attended since birth. Levi was well known for his work ethic, which he attributed to his upbringing on the family farm. His working life spanned nearly six decades. He held many jobs during that time, including that of a wholesale meat salesman for the Party Steak Company, a missionary in Haiti, and various farming jobs. In 1994, he joined Race Brothers Farm & Home Supply in Carthage, MO, where he worked before finally retiring 17 years later. Levi was an avid outdoorsman with a deep reverence for God’s creation. From early childhood, hunting and fishing were an integral part of his life, and later proved useful in keeping his large family well fed. He spent days and sometimes weeks in the woods, often accompanied by his children, and later, his grandchildren. He was an excellent marksman with a rifle, shotgun, and slingshot. In the late 1950s he took up bow hunting and it became one of his life-long passions. His mastery of bow hunting inspired both young and old to engage in the sport long before it became popular. No one, including Levi, knows the exact number of deer he bagged during his lifetime, but it is estimated that the total is well over 50, with most having been shot with an ordinary recurve bow. At age 14, Levi gave his life to Christ while attending a revival service at First Christian Church in Carthage, MO. Whether by God’s design or mere coincidence, his bride-to-be was also in attendance and accepted Christ at that same revival. The two were baptized together that day. It must have been God’s divine plan, for no one else could have known the two youngsters would one day marry and spend the next 67 years in love. Throughout his adult life, Levi served as a teacher and spiritual leader at Center Point Christian Church. While still a young man in his mid-30s, he was nominated to be a church elder, making him the youngest man to ever be ordained as an elder up until that point. While he took his responsibilities as an elder very seriously, perhaps his favorite role at Center Point was that of candy distributor. Every Sunday, before services began, he could be found in his pew opening Werther’s Originals and popping Hi-Chews for the many children that would line up at his knee. Somehow his pockets never ran dry, no matter how many kids came searching for a treat. Levi will long be remembered as a man of strong moral conviction, a faithful husband, loving father and grandfather, and a great storyteller. His passage through this life yielded equal measures of laughter and sorrow, abundance and loss, yet through it all, he lived his entire life with an unspeakable joy – the kind of joy that can only be found when one walks with God. Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads and look and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls…” – Jeremiah 6: 16
A celebration of life will take place at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, January 28, 2025, at Center Point Christian Church, 11995 County Road 80, Carthage, MO 64836. The family will receive visitors prior to the service beginning at 10:00 a.m. Burial will be at Fasken Cemetery following his services.
Contributions may be made to Center Point Christian Church in care of Ulmer Funeral Home.
Online condolences may be made at www.ulmerfh.com.
Arrangements are under the care and direction of Ulmer Funeral Home.
