Sybil Durham Snodgrass passed peacefully on January 25, 2025, in New Braunfels, Texas, at the age of 95½. She was born on July 29,1929, in Santa Anna, Texas and brought up in Coleman, Texas, the cherished only child of Jim Alice Walker Durham and Albert Jackson Durham.
Sybil married Mac Snodgrass (whom she met when she was selling rodeo tickets at the drugstore) in August 1947, one month after she turned eighteen years old. They were married for 49 years, until his passing. Sybil and Mac got a kick out of telling their children that when their daddy graduated from high school, their mother was in the second grade.
After her marriage, when they relocated for Mac's education, Sybil first attended Southwestern University where she majored in piano and voice. After they settled in San Angelo, Sybil taught dancing and kindergarten, often bringing her daughters to work with her. The only babysitter Carolee and Nancy Jim ever had was their beloved grandmother, Sybil's mother "Jim Mom."
After her younger daughter started school, Sybil became a non-traditional college student, working for the dean of students, while earning a BS in Elementary Education just before turning forty. She was selected for Who's Who from American Universities, and later, achieved a Master’s degree in Elementary Education with kindergarten certification from Angelo State and Texas A&M Universities.
She dedicated her professional life to educating and nurturing children in various settings, including private, church, and public-school kindergartens. She spent summers as a camp counselor at Methodist church camps and at Camp Summer Life in Taos, New Mexico. She remembered every student she ever taught, kept track of their accomplishments, and was thrilled and honored when they remembered her.
Sybil was an active member of the Junior League, PEO, and DAR. She eagerly contributed in other areas of the community, including working elections and participating in charitable projects – in particular, Meals for the Elderly, for which she delivered until she was no longer able to drive. She found it fun to join in their fundraising gala by dressing as a palm reader and “telling fortunes.”
She sang in the San Angelo Symphony Chorale and graced the stage in Angelo Civic Theater and other productions. Sybil and husband Mac spent many happy years as active members of the Terpsichorean DanceClub, as well as a longtime private dinner club of their oldest, dearest friends.
Even into her 70s, Sybil continued her community involvement and her career. After her retirement from public school in 1985, she was the second employee hired at the then new Community Health Club, where she taught water aerobics as a rehabilitation specialist, earning her certification by the Arthritis Foundation and USA Water Fitness after the age of sixty, helping others become and remain healthy.
Her faithful dedication to her church family was evident in her roles as board and committee member, Sunday school piano player, and wedding coordinator for First United Methodist Church in San Angelo. She wrote a book explaining the symbols featured in the stained glass windows, a guidebook still used today. She performed in choir and handbells, and was always moved and uplifted by the magnificent music. She particularly loved the grand hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.
Sybil embraced life, rarely sitting still. She did play bridge and mahjong, knitted expertly, exercised like a little fiend, dressed like a model, traveled the world, and was constantly learning and teaching. She was a social butterfly, always up to go somewhere and do something, even if it was just a day trip to have lunch in a small town in Texas.
Her favorite title and job was wife and mother, though she did caution her daughters not to "just" get married, but to continue their education and have a sense of themselves, first. Sybil would be the first to say she did not inherit the cooking gene from her mother. She was more known for forgetting the rolls in the oven at Thanksgiving, and for her own distinct Christmas aroma of burnt Chex mix, but she did make tasty, beautiful deviled eggs that probably made angels sing.
She seemed to exist on bread and butter – or maybe that should be a little bread with her butter, she would joke – though she did love good food. Once, while on a family road trip, Sybil was delighted to see fresh fish was available, asking the amused waitperson if she could order fried catfish and hush puppies for her breakfast. And she did.
Sybil never met a stranger. She had a knack for engaging with children as well as adults, loved cuddling babies, and doted on puppy dogs – her own and her granddogs. Her spirit blended joy and resilience. Her ability to remain optimistic in any circumstance was her signature and most memorable trait.
During the pandemic lockdown, after many months alone in her retirement apartment, Sybil pep-talked her daughter in town on the phone, saying “I'm fine, we're fine, it's fine! We will all be together before we know it, and we will be laughing together again; we look forward to getting past these challenges. Like Queen Elizabeth said, we WILL celebrate and we will hug again, and everything will be okay. Just wait a little while, and it will be wonderful again! We'll have cake!”
Sybil was predeceased by her parents and her adored and devoted husband, McCutchon Snodgrass. She is survived by her daughters and extended family, Carolee (Dick) Britton and NancyJim (Kyle) Olson; her precious grandchildren, Blair (Jerry) Garcia, and Keith (Angelica) Britton; and great-grandchildren, Cadence Beck, Ainsley Beck, Amanda Garcia, Sadie Garcia, Jack Britton, and Jacob Britton.
The family is immensely grateful to Chapters Living of New Braunfels (who knew Sybil as "The Princess") and Lyndale Retirement Community, where she moved after the age of 87, and thoroughly enjoyed *never* being in her apartment, but instead serving as unofficial greeter and caretaker of those she referred to as "the old people."
There will be a visitation at Harper Funeral Home on Wednesday January 29, 2025, from 5:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M.
In lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor Sybil may donate to Meals for the Elderly in San Angelo, a cause she strongly believed in and supported.
Thank you for being her friend.
Family and friends may share condolences and sign the online register book at www.harper-funeralhome.com.
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