103-year-old Mount Pleasant resident reflects on Michigan life

Netha Snyder had balloons released on her last birthday equal to her age.

There were 103 of them.

Snyder, one of the oldest residents of Mount Pleasant, has traveled through the United States, Mexico and Canada. Today, she resides at The Laurels of Mount Pleasant, 400 S. Crapo St.

Snyder has five children, 19 grandchildren and even more great-grandchildren.

On Snyder’s 103rd birthday last month, 103 balloons were let loose into the Mount Pleasant sky, said Laurels Activities Director Becky Kaniski.

“The whole family was here (at The Laurels),” she said.

The early years

Snyder grew up in several towns in Michigan, including Hastings and Vestaburg, in a farming family, where she developed a love for dancing, animals, ice skating and bonfires.

She enjoyed picnics where groups would gather, bring sandwiches and drink cans of cola.

Life was very different than today, she said, including family punishment. Instead of grounding Snyder, for example, her mother tied her to a windmill along with a calf.

“Oh my, I was embarrassed,” Snyder said. “I never did that again.”

Snyder learned how to drive a car at a young age, when her father bought the family’s first car, a Ford Touring. Snyder would occasionally drive the car while her father dropped off milk at neighboring houses. Roads were not developed enough to drive without the car occasionally sinking, she said.

She left school after 10th grade, which was normal for the time, and worked at a pickle factory.

“I was hired (there) for quite a long time,” she said.

Work was not common for females, she said, until World War I.

Snyder met her first husband at the factory, she said, although she did not marry him at the time. Later, however, after divorcing and remarrying, Snyder eventually left her second husband to remarry her first. The two stayed together until his death in 1994.

The Snyder family farm in Vestaburg remains in the family today.

Change, change, change

The Great Depression of the 1930s affected Snyder and her family as well as the nation.

“People were losing jobs, committing suicide; it was terrible,” Snyder said. “Really terrible.”

Even amid the depression, Snyder found employment with a Lansing factory. She applied at her sister-in-law’s suggestion, and received the job instead of her.

“Lo and behold, they hired me,” Snyder said. “I thought she was furious, but she didn’t say anything.”

Snyder has seen many changes in Michigan throughout her life. She sees many more factories than she used to.

Transportation was a lot different, as trains were common for most of her life. But prior to the family’s car, they owned a buggy.

“We’d sit (in the buggy) and eat peanuts on the way home,” Snyder said.

The youth have changed as well, she said.

“Young folks are different, and the music is different,” Snyder said. “So many young folks today sit and watch television; (there is) no exercise like they used to do.”

Religion and family

A religious woman and dedicated follower of the Bible, Snyder listens to an audio CD of the Bible in her spare time. She listened to it twice in its entirety, and is replaying the New Testament.

“I listen to (the Bible) every night,” Snyder said.

Family also is very important to her, and she enjoys visits. Her son, Jim Lee Bollinger and his wife, Mary Lynn, visit regularly.

“We try visit once a week,” Jim Lee Bollinger said.

Kaniski said Snyder receives visitors almost daily.

“She’s a very neat lady and a very proud lady,” she said.