Initially raised in Lavelle, Schuylkill County, Judy Snyder relocated with her parents to the nearby community of Frackville, where she became the older sister to two siblings and was enrolled as a student at the Frackville Elementary School during the early 1950s.

Later that same decade, she relocated with her parents and younger sisters to the Borough of West Lawn in Berks County, Pennsylvania, where her youngest sister was born. An avid reader and persuasive debater who was inspired by the characters in Louisa May Alcott’s novel, “Little Women,” Judy successfully lobbied her parents to name her baby sister, “Laurie,” saving her from the years of playground bullying that would likely have resulted had one of several other proposed names been chosen. Fortunately, their parents agreed, assuring a lifelong, loving bond between the oldest and youngest sisters — a bond that was strengthened as Judy wheeled Laurie around their neighborhood on frequent stroller rides to nurture a sense of curiosity and wonder.

Skilled at math, Judy was also a Russian language student at Wilson High School in West Lawn. A talented painter during those same high school years, she went on to become an adept visual artist as the designer of eye-catching, award-winning window displays for major department stores in New York City and New Jersey, as well as interior designs and decorations for multiple Casual Corner stores on the East Coast.

Judy (Snyder) Wasserman as she created a department store window display (courtesy of the Snyder-Wasserman-Griffin-Silvio Family Archives).

A fashionable dresser, she helped her younger sisters to develop their own sense of style, as each went on to become educators in Pennsylvania’s highly regarded system of public schools. (She was less successful, however, at convincing “dear old Dad” to modernize. The bellbottom pants that she picked out for him one year never quite made it out of his closet, for one reason or another.)

Married to Howard Wasserman, one of the genuinely good guys in the world, Judy welcomed the births of two beautiful, brilliant daughters, Jess and Corry, who have each made their own positive impact on the world and will continue to do so for many years to come. Judy and Howard’s granddaughter, Izzy, has already shown signs that she, too, will be a formidable woman who will change the world in a positive way.

A lifelong learner who enjoyed studying American History, Judy drove her “baby” sister across Louisiana and back during two epic, 1990s road trips. Visiting multiple cities and towns, they stayed in a hotel on Bourbon Street in New Orleans that was reportedly haunted by the ghosts of Union Army soldiers, photographed the stained glass art at New Orleans’ Metairie Cemetery, marveled at the phenomenal flora and fauna found along Louisiana’s back roads, made a lifelong friend of the curator of the Bayou Folk Museum and Kate Chopin House in Cloutierville, toured the key filming locations for the movie, “Steel Magnolias,” in Natchitoches, Louisiana, and had some of the most memorable fine and junk food dining experiences in history.

She was witty and knew how to laugh and have fun — but she also knew when to get serious.

A fierce advocate for the most vulnerable in the world, she fought to improve public education for children across New Jersey and Louisiana, where she resided with her family, beginning in the 1990s. Also sensitive to the plight of animals that were being neglected or abused, she rescued more than a few from fates worse than death.

A warrior to the end, Judy (Snyder) Wasserman passed away in Lake Charles, Louisiana on April 1, 2023, but her sense of wonder and fighting spirit live on in those who love her still.

Sources: Images and oral history segments, courtesy of the Snyder-Wasserman-Griffin-Silvio Family Archives.