Esther Lavelle Snyder (née Johnson) (January 7, 1920 – August 4, 2006) was an American businesswoman. She co-founded In-N-Out Burger, with her husband Harry Snyder, in 1948.
Esther Snyder | |
|---|---|
| Born | Esther Lavelle Johnson January 7, 1920 |
| Died | August 4, 2006 (aged 86) |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Co-founding In-N-Out Burger |
| Spouse | Harry Snyder (1948-1976, his death) |
| Children | Guy Snyder Rich Snyder |
Early life
editSnyder was born and raised in Sorento, Illinois, as the fifth of eight children (seven daughters, one son) to parents Orla and Mabel Johnson. She attended Greenville College and graduated from Seattle Pacific University with a bachelor's degree in zoology.[1]
Career
editDuring In-N-Out's early years, Snyder managed all of the company bookkeeping herself, creating thousands of pages of handwritten notes and accounts.
From January 2000 until her August 2006 death, Snyder served as the company's president.
Personal life
editShe met Harry Snyder in 1947, while working at a restaurant in Seattle; the two were married the following year and moved to Baldwin Park, California.[2] By the late 1950s, the couple had moved to a larger house in the nearby city of San Dimas, California.
Esther and Harry Snyder had two sons: Guy (1951-1999) and Rich Snyder (1952-1993) and one granddaughter from their first son Guy: Lynsi (born 1982). Esther outlived her husband, who died in 1976 from lung cancer and both of their sons, one of whom died in a plane crash and the other of a drug overdose.
Following her husband's death, Snyder spent the last two decades of her life living in Glendora, California, where she owned a home that author Stacy Perman described as "a ranch house shaded by oak trees and fronted by a white fence."
Death
editSnyder died on August 4, 2006, in Irvine, California, aged 86, from undisclosed causes. Her only grandchild, Lynsi Snyder, is now the heiress to the In-N-Out Burger company.[3][4]
Esther Snyder Community Center
editSince In-N-Out Burger was started in the city of Baldwin Park, the city named its community center after Esther Snyder.[5]
References
edit- ^ "In Loving Memory of Esther Snyder". innout.com. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
- ^ "Esther Snyder, 86; Began In-N-Out Burger". The New York Times. August 13, 2006. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
- ^ "In-N-Out matriarch Snyder dies at age 86". Los Angeles Daily News. 2006-08-06. Archived from the original on 2006-08-07.
- ^ "Esther Snyder, In-N-Out Burger Founder, Dies at 86". The New York Times. August 13, 2006. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
- ^ "City of Baldwin Park - Esther Snyder Community Center". Retrieved 2009-08-18.
Further reading
edit- Perman, Stacy (2009). In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-06-134671-2.