Charles Stewart Snider

Charles Stewart Snider was gathered Home by the Lord on August 5, 2022. He was 89 years old. Born in Salt Lake City, UT to William Mount Snider and Ruth Marie Snider (née Stewart) on September 9, 1932, Charles spent his childhood and growing years in Denver, CO. Both sides of his family were from Kentucky, but Colorado was always home. He recalled many wonderful memories of his youth in the Highlanders, accordion lessons, riding the electric bus all over Denver without fear, the Old Elitch gardens, and seeing the last of the Wild West as it was fading away. He spent several of his younger years in the southwestern part of Colorado and rode the Silverton train from Durango to Silverton when it was the only way up there. Once there, his father had radios to sell to the miners and watched as his dad rode a suspended oar car across the valley and disappeared into the opening of a mine on the far side. He spent his teenage years in Los Angeles riding his moped, driving a woody to the beach and being the original Fonzie! He graduated from high school in LA and then went to Tucson, AZ where he met his beautiful wife Carol of nearly 62 years before her passing. He joined the Naval Reserves seeing a draft coming and then went active Navy in the Korean War out of San Diego aboard the USS Hamner and then the USS Prairie where he was an exceptional Interior Communications crewman. He was offered OCS but declined as he wanted to propose to Carol but didn’t want a military life for them. They married on November 5, 1954, in Phoenix, AZ. After being discharged with the equivalency of a Powerhouse Engineer, they moved to first Denver, CO, and then to Boulder, CO where he worked for the US government on making the world’s first atomic clock. This led him to a career of 40 plus years as the timekeeper, aka Father Time, at the station WWV in Wellington, CO. He was featured in many articles in newspapers, textbooks, and on tv as the job was exceptionally unusual being one of only 2 in the US. He and Carol raised 3 children in Ft. Collins, and both had a love for animals that was a blessing they shared with their kids. A heart of gold, a profound library of knowledge, great sense of humor, generosity, open door policy, and caring for others is a legacy to be proud of and it was his gift to all who met him.