Crescent Valley High School Booster Club Benefits from New Fund
Family and freinds of Corvallis Attorney Thompson (Tom) Snyder, who died April 25, 2007, at the age of 75, have established the Thompson Snyder Memorial Fund with the Benton County Foundation. Annual earnings from this fund will support the activities of the Crescent Valley High School Booster Club.
“Tom was a highly respected and ethical attorney noted for his expertise in estates and tax law,” said Rob Gardner, former Benton Circuit Court Judge.
Tom had close connections to the Benton County Foundation, serving as a board member and president, and to the Corvallis Rotary Club, where he was a member since 1976 and a Paul Harris Fellow. He made many contributions to the Benton County community, including serving as trustee and president of the Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation and chair of the Corvallis Human Relations Committee. He was also an active supporter of the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library.
Born February 27, 1932, Tom attended schools in Omaha, Nebraska. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1953 at the University of Nebraska. From 1953 to 1955, he served in the Military Police branch of the United States Army. He returned to school at the University of Nebraska, earning his juris doctorate (cum laude) in 1958. That year, Tom married Janet Lovseth.
His first job brought Tom and his bride to Salem, Oregon, where he worked as a deputy legislative counsel for the State of Oregon for fifteen months with the 1958 legislative session. He moved to Newport in the fall of 1959 and practiced law, then moved inland to Eugene in May 1960. During his two years in Eugene, he taught one term at the University of Oregon Law School, and taught part-time at Oregon State University. In September 1962, he accepted a full-time teaching position at OSU in the School of Business. In 1965, Tom went to New York University to earn an L.L.M. in taxation.
Tom taught full-time at OSU before starting his practice in Corvallis in 1966. He continued teaching part-time for 10 years, specializing in tax courses. He authored Tax Consequences of Divorce and Separation, published in 1973 and expanded in 1974, for the Oregon Society of Certified Public Accountants. He served Oregon State Bar as chair and vice chair of the Section on Estate Planning and Administration. He also chaired the Committee on Trust Legislation. He has served as a director of the Oregon Estate Planning Council, Eugene Chapter, and as president of the Benton County Bar Association. He retired in 1991.
He was very involved with the Crescent Valley Boosters Club and his children’s sports activities. He was always physically active and particu- larly loved all kinds of water sports. At one point, he led the effort to get a sports van for each high school. The Snyder family hopes that the earnings from this fund will help parents who find it difficult to pay the sports fees now required before students can participate in high school sports programs. The Thompson Snyder Fund will insure that Tom’s contributions to the Booster Club will continue indefinitely.
Tom and his wife, Jan, loved to travel and in more than 40 years of travel visited numerous countries in Asia, Europe and South America. During one of their trips they visited the island of Aruba and for the next 20 years made at least one visit each year to that island
Tom is survived by his wife and three daughters – Jill, Anne, and Sally; two sons-in-law; and four grandchildren.
The Thompson Snyder Fund will carry on the memory and the good works of this remarkable man who contributed so much to our local community.
Tom and Jan Snyder at their daughter Sally’s wedding in 1988.
