Jim Snyder was born and raised in Baltimore, MD., where his father was a newspaperman as well as his brother Cameron, who was inducted into the media wing of the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his newspaper coverage of the Baltimore Colts in the 1950's and 60's. Snyder was a 1951 graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College where he Wlis the school's first sports information director. It was for that role that Snyder was inducted into Wesleyan's Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 1995 for "setting the standard in college sports information." It was also at Wesleyan that he met his future wife, Lana Rawson of Parkersburg. Upon graduation, Jim went to work for The Parkersburg News in 1951 and served as its sports editor from 1957-73. Along with Brad Kincaid of The Parkersburg Sentinel, the pair pioneered high school sports coverage in West Virginia. Jim was city editor from 1973 until his retirement in 1993. During his tenure at the newspaper, he was recognized as the Gene Morehouse Award recipient in 1974 for achievement and distinguished service. He was also in the inaugural 1998 Mid-Ohio Valley Hall of Fame class. Snyder and wife Lana were married for 40 years. They have two children, son Ross (Kim) and daughter Ann Baughan (Jeff). They have six grandchildren: Kayla, Kelsey, Kameron and Karson Snyder; Katherine and Rebecca Baughan. Jim passed away in 2002.