Carol Ann Snyder

Carol Ann Snyder, loving mother, wife, sister, aunt and friend, was born on July 22, 1943, in San Diego, CA and died on February 19, 2024, in Corona, CA from complications stemming from chronic asthma and COPD. She was 80.

Daughter of Alvin and Virginia Sterling and sister to Judy, Carol was raised in Plymouth, WI and graduated from Plymouth High in 1961. After graduating from Plymouth High School and under the encouragement and support of her favorite Aunt Rose, she attended the University of Wisconsin, studying Psychology.

She married Gordon Levezow in 1962 and had a son, Michael Gordon, in 1963. Gordon was an electrician in the Navy serving aboard aircraft carriers, so the family moved quite often to different duty stations, primarily between the San Francisco Bay Area and the Midwest. In 1970, she gave birth to her second son in Sheboygan WI, Joshua Benjamin Sterling.

Moving back to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1981, she worked at an answering service in the San Francisco Financial District and then went on to work as a project manager for a kitchen construction company. Following the death of Gordon in 1986, she moved to Carlsbad, CA where she bought a condo with ocean views which she absolutely loved.

Having lived both in the Midwest and in California, Carol would willingly admit that the magical allure of San Francisco in the 1970’s and ’80’s always lived in her heart. She identified with Maupin’s Tales of the City and the enchanted nature of “Baghdad by the Bay.” Her favorite quote from the novel was said by Mrs. Madrigal: “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but about learning to dance in the rain.”

In a return to the Bay Area in 1988, she married Dennis Snyder and worked as a junior high teacher in a private school. It was at this time that they adopted their beloved family Rottweiler, Jericho, and she took him through training to become a therapy dog. In her spare time, she was a voracious reader with her favorite genre being mystery novels.

In 1992, Carol and Dennis became foster parents and helped raise numerous babies and young children, focusing on at-risk infants. In 1995, with the arrival of Erin Rose, and 3 years later, Emily Ann, their lives changed forever and for the better; they adopted Erin in 1998 and Emily in 2001.

The family moved from Carlsbad to Corona, CA in 2000 where the girls grew up and graduated from high school. In 2015, Erin gave birth to Alistair and Carol became a doting grandmother. In 2022, Carol again became a proud grandmother to Emily’s twins, Lilah and Olivia.

Carol was very proud of being a parent, a grandparent, and an educator. She was the glue that held her family together. She is survived by her husband, Dennis, son and daughter-in-law, Joshua and Romely, daughters Erin and Emily, grandson Alistair and granddaughters, Lilah and Olivia, her sister, Judy Roethel, and best friend, Gulie Rudd.

A celebration of life will take place on March 16, 2024, at 11 a.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church at 5455 Alessandro Blvd, Riverside, CA 92506. At Carol’s request, all attendees are asked to wear colorful clothing. According to her wishes, her ashes — along with Jericho’s — will be scattered off the coast, just south of San Francisco.