Condolences: Rick Snyder
• Prominent radio executive, air personality and Maine Broadcasting Hall of Famer Richard Arthur “Rick” Snyder passed away on August 14, 2023 in West Palm Beach, FL at the age of 82.
Snyder started his radio career in 1961. One of his first stops as a DJ was at WTRY-AM/Troy, NY, where he was at the forefront of the Top 40 revolution, meeting The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and many other artists who rose to stardom. Snyder cracked the mic at WNDR/Syracuse, NY in 1962 as well as WTTO/Toledo, OH, and WTRX/Flint, MI, where he would meet his first wife and mother of his two children, Mary Jo Charnley.
In 1967, Snyder moved to Maine, where he joined WLOB-AM as Program Director, hosting what was thought to be the very first husband/wife morning show in America, Snyder & Snyder (Rick and Mary Jo). The show’s content was provocative for the times — and the Portland market responded with dominant #1 ratings. Audience shares over 40 were not uncommon. Snyder went on to become GM of WJBQ/Portland, while still hosting a weekend on-air show. Positions with WHOM-FM and other stations followed until Rick decided to move to Florida, where he worked in both television and radio sales and management. It was there where Rick met his current wife, Rosalind.
Rick was always an enthusiastic and caring friend, a passionate radio guy — and a mentor to countless professionals whom he guided in their careers. With that ever-present smile, Rick Snyder was loved and respected by thousands, and in 2016, was inducted into the Maine Broadcasting Hall of Fame (as seen in this photo).
Snyder is survived by his wife Rosalind, her son Cassidy and his family, his brother Michael, daughter Dawn and her children, Lilly and Jacob, and his son Robert.
Tim Moore, Pres./CEO of the Maine Association of Broadcasters, told RAMP, “Rick was a GREAT guy. I worked with him at WHOM in the ’90s — everyone in Maine broadcasting knew Rick. His son, Rob ‘Steele’ Snyder was a top-rated night jock for me at WJBQ (and is now the regional Production Director for Townsquare Media-New England) and his daughter Dawn also did some air work for me at WHOM. She’s now out of the business, but with a father and mother (and brother) in radio, she once joked that her biography would be titled ‘Raised On Trade!'” Plans for a Celebration of Life are pending at this time. [Special thanks to Tim Moore]
