HELEN ELAINE THOMAS SNIDER
HELEN ELAINE THOMAS SNIDER
THOMAS SNIDER Helen Elaine Thomas Snider, 94, of Utopia, TX passed away Friday, February 25, 2022, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Born in Gainesville, TX on September 30, 1927, to Sam C. Thomas and Helen Hammack Thomas, Elaine was the first of four beautiful children, three girls and a boy. She attended primary and secondary schools in McKinney, TX graduating from McKinney High School in 1945. While in high school, Elaine enjoyed business classes preparing herself for post-secondary job opportunities at the VA and then as Secretary to the Dean of Agriculture at Texas A&M University. Elaine married her high school sweetheart and the love of her life upon his return from the European Theater and World War II in 1946, adding one child, a daughter, to their family in 1950. The brightest stars in Elaine’s life were her much loved family. Her daughter presented her twin grandsons and the children they provided to further enrich her life, four baby girls and one baby boy. Her greatest joy was seeing them pull into the driveway in “the Country” for a visit. Life was never sweeter than being surrounded by her precious family. Elaine was a professional Homemaker and she took her profession very seriously, making a lovely home for Joe and daughter, Sandie. Church was always at the center of this family with many of her closest friends being her church friends. She enjoyed teaching Sunday School, Bible School and being in assorted Bible Study groups including Delphians and small studies at church. One of her most significant opportunities for service was sitting on the Sabinal Canyon Museum Board as a Founding Member in 1989, serving on the Board until 2014. Hours of gathering items on loan to the museum, cataloging them and then preparing displays brought Elaine great pleasure. She also was the Volunteer Coordinator recruiting and training the Museum Volunteers for service was her special gift.
Elaine had a significant impact on all who knew her from her countless friends to her sweet family as she unconditionally loved, comforted, laughed with, motivated and inspired, and served as a model for how one should live their life. Elaine mentioned on numerous occasions that she had “lived a charmed life.” She was a friend to all who knew her and the least self-centered individual ever to walk through our lives.
Elaine is survived by her daughter, Sandra “Sandie” Ford and husband Bill; grandsons, Michael Ford and wife Ashley, Steven Ford and wife Taryn; former granddaughter-in-law, Sarah Sanson Ford; great grandchildren, Kylee Ford, Addi Ford, Kendall Ford, Emmerson Ford, and Jaxson Ford; her sister, Karen Reed and husband Mims Reed; nephew, Thomas Reed and wife Debbie and their children, Taylor Reed and Misty Chandler; nieces, Kelly Fulghum and husband Ben and their children Kate Fulghum and Anne Dorf, Elysse Mora and husband Al and children, and Susan Mackey and husband Guy; and close family friend, Billy Moore. Elaine was preceded in death by her husband, Joe Ben Snider; parents, Sam and Helen Thomas; her sister, Mary Jean Ramsey; and her brother, Sam W.
Thomas. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Providence Place at 6487 Whitby Rd., San Antonio, TX 78240 or Utopia United Methodist Church at 571 Cypress St., Box 388, Utopia, TX 78884. A Graveside Service will be held on Thursday, March 3, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. at Pecan Grove Memorial Park at Industrial Blvd. and Highway 5 in McKinney, TX. To leave condolences for the family and to view a video of Elaine’s life, please visit www.ebensberger-fisher.com.
Arrangements with Ebensberger-Fisher Funeral Home of Boerne.