Barbara Dent Snedegar

BARBARA DENT SNEDEGAR

(Age 92)

Barbara Snedegar, of McLean, VA passed away peacefully on Wednesday, August 23, 2017. Born in Weston, West Virginia to Harold F. and Delle W. Dent, she received her B.S. in Secondary Education from West Virginia University in 1945. Her Teaching certificates included Social Studies (emphasis on History), Art and French and she began her career teaching Art in Mannington, WV and later Morgantown, WV. Having a strong interest in Foreign Language, she returned to graduate school at WVU in 1947 with a teaching fellowship in French and Spanish and earned her Master’s Degree in 1949 in French (with nearly as many graduate level hours in Spanish as well). She met William Hurst Snedegar, also a graduate student (Physics) at WVU, and they attended graduation ceremony together as husband and wife. The couple moved to Washington, DC where Barbara worked as a Librarian in the District of Columbia Public Library System while William worked at the National Bureau of Standards and later the David Taylor Model Basin. When she left the Civil Service to become a homemaker, she took advantage of the many educational opportunities offered in the city. This acquainted her with Adult Education, a subject that became a lifelong interest to her as a teacher. When her husband entered Graduate School at the University of Kentucky in 1953 to pursue his Doctorate, she returned to work serving as the Young Adults Program Director at the Lexington YWCA. She organized a married women’s club (the Y Wives) complete with programs and nursery services, a Young Business Women’s Club and a complete division of adult education classes for men and women. She also set up classes in Art for men, women and children. She was actively involved in promoting YWCA programs in the community and was frequently interviewed on radio and television and in newspapers. When William received his PhD in 1957, the couple was sent to Indonesia as part of a U.S. Government program to assist in rebuilding that country’s university system after the devastation of the Second World War. They served on the faculty at Bogor Agricultural University on the Island of Java, her husband teaching Science and she teaching Technical English to the Indonesian Freshmen students to allow them to better understand their American instructors. Based on her success in this effort, she was asked to launch a program of more intense English language instruction, including familiarization with American culture, for Indonesian students being sent to the U.S. for advanced technical training. In addition, she started a weekly English language class for the local townspeople of Bogor, which was very popular. She and her husband became fluent in the Indonesian language, and spent much of their free time visiting historical places, studying local customs and enjoying the widely varied styles of music and dance of the islands. The couple made many lifelong friends, both faculty and students, while teaching at Bogor University. Returning to the U.S., she devoted most of her time to raising their two sons, Robert and Thomas, but continued to play an active role in many community organizations, the American Association of University Women, League of Women Voters and various county boards. In 1967 the couple moved to Clarion, PA where William became Chair of the Physics Department at Clarion University. Barbara returned to teaching English as a second language as a private instructor for foreign students attending the University. Later she co-founded the Clarion Adult Literacy Council, a group of volunteer tutors that helped members of the local community to improve reading and writing skills as well as earn the GED. After her beloved husband William passed away in 2007, she moved to Virginia to be near her son Robert. Although during recent years she lived in an Assisted Living apartment, this was due only to certain physical needs, with her mind remaining “sharp as a tack” and always eager to learn new things about the world. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 59 years, William Hurst Snedegar and her adored older sister Janice Dent Walls. She is survived by beloved sons Robert Ward Snedegar and Thomas Dent Snedegar, beloved nephew Randy Walls and many friends and relatives. A memorial service will be held at 2 pm on Friday, September 1 at Sunrise of McLean, 8315 Turning Leaf Lane, McLean, VA 22102. Online condolences and fond memories of Barbara may be offered to the family at www.moneyandking.com