Managed Family-Run Supermarket
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Jerome "Jerry" Snider, 80, the longtime proprietor of the family-run Snider's
supermarket in Silver Spring, died Feb. 17 of lung cancer at his home in Bethesda.
Mr. Snider was a Washington native who grew up in the grocery business, working
in his father's store as a boy. He graduated from Roosevelt High School, served in the
Army and attended the University of Maryland but was drawn back to his family's store,
joining his father in business in the late 1940s.
In 1961, Mr. Snider and his brother, David, founded Snider's Super Foods at its current location on Seminary Road, just
up the block from their family's previous store. Snider's became known for the quality of its meats, seafood, handmade
kosher hot dogs and locally produced eggs and milk.
Mr. Snider remained an outgoing and colorful presence at the store until weeks before his death. His brother continues
to operate the store.
Mr. Snider was a member of the Masons, the Woodmont Country Club, the Progress Club of Rockville and Beth Sholom
Congregation in Potomac. He supported the Imagination Stage in Bethesda and many Jewish charities, including the
Hebrew Home of Greater Washington, the Jewish Foundation of Group Homes and Ohev Sholom, Washington's oldest
Orthodox synagogue, also known as the "National Synagogue."
In addition to his brother, of Potomac, survivors include his wife of 53 years, Elaine H. Snider of Bethesda; three
children, Holly Kopit of Chevy Chase, Bruce Snider of Belfast, Maine, and Lauren Sachs of Bethesda; and six
grandchildren.
-- Matt Schudel