Last Updated on November 10, 2025 4:08 pm
Dr. Herman Lisle Snyder Jr., a retired podiatrist who served as Blowing Rock's mayor and was a prominent community leader, has died.
Snyder, 79, was known throughout the High Country simply as “Snyder” or affectionately as “Boss Hog” by those who knew him. His path to Blowing Rock began with a serendipitous wrong turn that shaped decades of community service.
Born Sept. 27, 1946, in Beaver, Pa., Snyder graduated from Georgia Southwestern University in Americus, Ga., in 1969 and earned his doctorate from Ohio College of Podiatry Medicine in Cleveland in 1973.
During travels between Pennsylvania and Georgia, Snyder became lost in fog and ended up in Blowing Rock, where he met Dr. Charles DaVant at a Rotary Club meeting, according to his obituary. DaVant convinced him to establish a podiatry practice in the mountain town.
Snyder went on to serve as Blowing Rock mayor and city council member. He was president of the local Rotary Club and particularly enjoyed his involvement with the International Rotary Exchange Program.
His community service extended to assistant scout leader for Boy Scout Troop 101 and service on the Eagle Scout Board of Review. He also served on the boards of podiatry in both North Carolina and Tennessee.
Snyder is survived by his wife of 38 years, Betsy Hathaway Snyder; daughter Rachel Tingle and her husband Doug; son Herman Lisle Snyder III, known as Trey; grandsons Andrew Tingle and Asher Skeens; and extended family.
A gathering of remembrance was held on Sunday, Nov. 9, at Hathaway-Percy Funeral Home in Elizabethton, Tennessee. A private graveside service will be conducted at a later date.
The family requests memorial donations be made to the Elizabethton/Carter County Animal Shelter, 135 Sycamore Shoals Drive, Elizabethton, Tenn., 37643.
