TOLEDO, Ohio—Pastor Bruce and Ellen Snyder have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, marking the event with a reception at Emmanuel Baptist Church. The five Snyder children—Brenda Shawver, Bruce, Brent, Beth White, and Brian—planned the event to include family members, the church congregation, and guests from various churches where the Snyders have ministered. Fourteen of the fifteen Snyder grandchildren were able to attend, except for Bob Shawver, now deployed with the US Navy.
The event was also marked by the surprise appearance of a 1956 Ford Custom. Bruce borrowed this car from his step-father in 1957, and used it to pick up Ellen on their first date. John Snyder, brother of Bruce, still owned the car and offered to haul it from Indiana for the celebration. And it still ran!
“Dad was so excited to get to drive that special car that he forgot to open Ellen’s door,” said the Snyder’s daughter, Brenda Shawver. “Mom just stood there until he realized that he had forgotten her.”
“He drove her to the church in the car. It was a beautiful occasion spent with many friends and family,” Brenda Shawver said.
The Snyders are a beloved part of Emmanuel’s history, with Pastor Snyder serving as assistant pastor from 1965 to 1968, and again from 1975 to 1983. He was interim pastor after a difficult pastoral transition, served with Ernest Pickering for a time, and then left to minister at churches in Ohio and New York. When he retired from the pastorate in 2003, he returned to Emmanuel in Toledo as a part-time assistant pastor for senior citizens. But his role expanded—again—to interim pastor in 2007.
Brent Snyder, who is a police officer in Columbus, was quick to point out that the anniversary celebration was not really about the car, offering these warm words of tribute to his parents:
“Marriages that last 50 years are not built on temporary fixtures, like a car, beauty, riches, or infatuation. Long-term marriages are built on firm foundations—foundations like . . . ‘trust, honor, truthfulness, fidelity, and selfless commitment.’
“Our society does not seem to value these things as it once did. So you see it is not really about a 1956 Ford Custom, and maybe not even about a 50th wedding anniversary, but maybe it’s about a foundation which stands against tough times to hold up a couple like Rev. Bruce and Ellen Snyder.”
