Mary Ann Snyder, age 77 years of Niles, Michigan; mother, grandmother, sister, teacher’s aide, flower gardener, and pet parent died peacefully at 2:43 p.m. on Tuesday, January 23, 2024 with her family gathered around her bedside at Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana following a brief illness.
She was born on May 6, 1946 in Niles to Leonard J. and Virginia A. (Stick) Dombrowski, and was graduated from Niles High School. She continued her education at Southwestern Michigan College, earning an Associates Degree in Paraprofessional Education. She was employed by Berrien Springs (Michigan) Public Schools as a teacher’s aide, serving more than twenty years prior to retirement. She has always lived in Niles and Berrien Springs.
Mary was well-known for her flower gardening, especially her butterfly bushes and hollyhocks, and she enjoyed the hummingbirds that would call at her feeder. She had a great affinity for animals, always having pet dogs in the house, but her greatest love was for her children, grandchildren, and the greats. Family was her life.
She is survived by her children, Christopher Snyder of Berrien Springs, Mark (& Lea) Snyder of Edwardsburg, Michigan, and Kimberly (& Paul) Pearison of Niles; grandchildren Kaitlin (& Zach) Ott, MaKenna Snyder, Gabrielle Snyder, Tyler (& Meara) Pearison, Alicia Mena, Craig Pearison, Camaron Pearison, and Gage Pearison (& fiancée, Valentine); great-grandchildren Carter, Mailee, Kinsley, Fayah, Rosilea, Avyana, Trey, Lexus, Darla, and Theon; Mary’s siblings, Sandy Duncan of Niles and Karen (& Charlie) Fox of Three Oaks, Michigan; and several nieces and nephews.
The funeral service for Mary Snyder will be at Noon on Monday, January 29, 2024 at the Halbritter-Wickens Funeral Home, 615 East Main Street in Niles with Pastor Jim Wing of Niles officiating. Committal will follow at the Silverbrook Cemetery in Niles. The family will receive relatives and friends on Monday at the funeral home beginning at 11:00 a.m.
Contributions in memory of Mary may be made to the Yeager Family Pet Shelter at the Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan, 5400 Niles Road, Saint Joseph, Michigan, 49085, https://humanesocietyswm.org/. Online memories may be left at: www.halbritterwickens.com
Mary clearly enjoyed life, tending her flowers, watching the butterflies and hummingbirds, and caring for her pets; but her greatest joy was the people in her life, years of caring for the youngest students at school, and a lifetime devoted to loving her family.