Snyder, Jon (1941-2007)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2007 Apr 2 p. 7

Birth date: 1941 Apr 3

text of obituary:

Pax worker once held in Congo dies in crash

By Mennonite Weekly Review staff

PORTLAND, Ore. — A former Pax worker who was held captive by Congolese rebels in 1964 died march 4 after an automobile accident.

Jon Snyder, 65, of Portland, died from injuries sustained Feb. 28 when he lost control of his car on Interstate 84.

The Portland native had served in Congo with Pax, the overseas alternative service program of Mennonite Central committee.

In October 1964, Snyder and fellow Pax volunteer Eugene Bergman of Paso Robles, Calif., along with the family of Congo Inland Mission worker Melvin J. Loewen of Steinbach, Man., were detained and threatened with death amid an uprising by Simba rebels in Stanleyville, present-day Kisangani. Snyder, Bergman and the Loewens were affiliated with Stanleyville's Protestant University.

While in captivity, Snyder appeared in a photograph in Life magazine alongside Evangelical Covenant Church medical missionary Paul Carlson, who was killed by the rebels during a street massacre on Nov. 24, 1964. Carlson later was portrayed on the cover of Time magazine.

Snyder, Bergman and the Loewens were freed and flown by military transport to Leopoldville, present-day Kinshasa.

Born april 3, 1941, in Portland, Snyder graduated from Western Mennonite High School and Goshen (Ind.) College. He was a self-employed systems analyst and a member of Portland Mennonite Church for more than 50 years. In 1971, he married Janet A. Green.

Survivors include his wife, two sons, David and Philip, two brothers, Stephen and Michael; and five grandchildren.

Funeral services were held March 10 at Portland Mennonite Church.