E. Max Snyder, 78, of Elgin, participated in the final air raid over Germany during World War II. Mr. Snyder, a former longtime resident of Arlington Heights and the retired owner of E. Max Snyder & Associates Management Consultants, died Monday, March 18, in Sherman Hospital in Elgin. Born and raised near Lafayette, Ind., Mr. Snyder served more than two years as a pilot in the 8th Army Air Forces, flying B-24s in Europe during World War II. During the air raid mission over Germany, Mr. Snyder served as lead pilot and earned the rank of first lieutenant. Following his military service, Mr. Snyder returned to Lafayette and received a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette. He started working as a plant manager at Haywood Tag Co., a manufacturer of tags in Lafayette and eventually rose to the rank of president before the company was sold in 1963. He moved to Arlington Heights that same year to work as plant manager for International Tag in Chicago. In the mid-1970s, Mr. Snyder left the company to create his own management consulting firm in Arlington Heights. He retired in 1997. Two years later he was named Man of the Year by the Arlington Heights Sunrise Rotary Club. “Even after he retired, he would get up and put his tie on and go into his office,” said his daughter Catherine. She added that her father was an avid gardener and woodworker. “We built furniture, we did yard art and we made sculptures,” she said. Other survivors include his wife, Marilyn; two more daughters, Constance “Connie” Ernst and Marilee; a son, Ernest; a sister, Sarah Boyajian; nine grandchildren; and a great-grandson. A service will be held at 10 a.m. Friday in Glueckert Funeral Home, 1520 N. Arlington Heights Rd., Arlington Heights.
