OLYMPIA (AP) — Former Senate Majority Leader Sid Snyder died Sunday at his home in Long Beach. He was 86.
Gov. Chris Gregoire said Snyder, a Democrat, was “legendary for getting things done and for his never-failing courtesy and civility.”
Snyder started work in Olympia in 1949 as an elevator operator at the Capitol and later moved on to become bill room supervisor. He was assistant chief clerk of the House for 12 years and spent 19 years as secretary of the Senate.
In 1990, Snyder was appointed to a Senate seat after the death of another senator, and that fall was elected to seat in a special election. In 1995, Snyder was elected as the Senate Democrats’ leader, and he stayed in that position for seven years, including five as majority leader. He retired from the Legislature in 2002 and returned to work at his two grocery stores, Sid’s Market and the Midtown Market, in Long Beach.
