Duane Snyder, and sons - Truckers' Trucking Forum | Message Board

Brickman · **^ Top** #1 08.12.2008

Condolences to the family left behind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got this email from my sister who lives in OH. I did some research and found a couple more pics.

Quote:

Register photo/ANDREW LIST

The Ohio State Highway Patrol, rescue workers and Ohio Turnpike maintenance crews respond Saturday night to a crash on the turnpike at the Southwest Road overpass at the Erie-Sandusky county line.

Crushed apples and metal debris across the Ohio Turnpike marked the spot where a semitrailer crashed Saturday night, killing the driver and his two children.
Dwayne Snyder, 33, of Rebersburg, Pa., and his boys -- Chadwin Snyder, 10, and Derrick S. Snyder, 3 -- were killed after the tractor-trailer went off the right side of the highway, smashed into a bridge and became wedged under an overpass.
The semi belonged to Snyder and was hauling boxes of apples.
The damage to the vehicle was so extensive authorities had to use hydraulic tools to pry open the cab and retrieve the bodies of Dwayne and Derrick, said Sgt. Darren Thomas, with the Milan Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol. The oldest son was ejected from the vehicle during the crash and was thrown over the bridge.
The accident occurred at about 9:55 p.m. Saturday on the Ohio Turnpike at the Erie-Sandusky county line, authorities said.
Snyder was traveling eastbound on the highway when his truck went off the right side of the road, clipped a sign, drove down through a ditch and up an embankment and struck the bridge, Thomas said. The 2003 Kenworth conventional semitrailer came to a rest next to a green highway sign saying "Entering Erie County."
The truck caused enough damage to the Southwest Road bridge that the overpass remained closed Sunday. Much of the semi became mangled, broke apart and ended up littered on Southwest Road. Engineers are expected to examine the overpass early this week to determine if it is structurally safe to reopen.
While authorities do not know what caused the accident, witnesses said the truck drifted off a straight and flat section of highway.
"One witness ... said he thought the truck was pulling off to the side of the road and then it just continued off the side of the road, down into the ditch area and until he struck the bridge," Thomas said.
Authorities are investigating the accident and say many specifics are not yet known. The damage was so severe investigators cannot say if Snyder or his passengers were wearing seat belts or even where the young boys were sitting in the vehicle.
Snyder was married, and his wife was notified of the accident by Pennsylvania State Police.

Dwayne is survived by his wife (Martha) and daughter. Martha is approx. 7 months pregnant. Please pray for the family.

----- Original Message -----

They announced at church today that Duane Snyder from PA was killed in a truck (semi, I think) wreck yesterday. It happened in western OH. He had two sons with him (one was 10) and they were all three killed. The truck went off the road and hit a bridge abutment head on. He leaves behind a wife and a couple other children. They go to a Brethren Church. Don't know the exact area of PA that he's from. Have any of you heard anything about this?

http://www.sanduskyregister.com/arti...ont/851241.txt

bullhaulerswife · **^ Top** #2 08.12.2008

My thoughts and prayers are with the family. So sad.

Wen782 · **^ Top** #3 08.12.2008

That's just horrible. What a devastating loss for the family...

Brickman · **^ Top** #4 08.26.2008

Official email from the family. Passed on to me from my sister.

It was August 2nd between 3:30-4:00 when Dwayne (33), Martha (32), Chadwin (10), Emily (7), and Derrick (3,) said their good byes to each other before Dwayne and the boys left for a trip to the northwest. Their prayer always was that God would bring them all back together again. Phone calls were exchanged every day and the boys were having lots of fun being with their daddy. Dwayne called home to Martha one day to let Derrick sing her a song. He had been a broken record on the trip singing "Father Abraham had many sons, many sons had father Abraham ...

One of the highlights of the trip was when they stopped with Dwayne's cousin in Montana. They were there for supper and the evening.

On Friday morning, just when Jesse Burkholder (one of Dwayne's church friends) was getting ready to go to work, Dwayne called him to share his burden for his boys. He was in a very talkative mood and the conversation went on for a half hour or more. He said he had such peace with God and he wanted that to be the future of his boys as well. But the reality of this evil world gripped his heart and he felt the need for wisdom on how to guide his dear children he so deeply loved.

Friday evening around supper time Grandpa and Grandma Snyder talked to the boys and Dwayne on the phone. They all said how they were enjoying the trip and after talking with them for what would be the last time on this side of heaven, hung up the phone anticipating the time when they could see the pictures and hear the stories of their time spent together.

At 8:30 on Saturday evening, Martha talked with Dwayne and calculated the time when their prayers would be answered and they could once again re-unite as a family, and in the morning rehearse the details of the trip. He had just entered western Ohio and was at mile marker 30 on the Ohio Turnpike, they were almost "home." Derrick was already asleep in the bunk for the night.

It was sometime on Saturday that she had sat down with the book "15,000+Baby Names."They hadn't decided yet on a name, but Dwayne had told her of one he had liked. The thought went through her mind as to what name she would pick if she had to name this baby by herself.·

At 10:00 P.M. he was on the phone with, Ralph Steiner, one of his friends who was also on the road and had been about six hours in front of him in Pennsylvania. They were talking awhile and then suddenly there was 4-5 seconds of silence. Then he heard a slapping noise and the phone went dead. He tried calling him back three times and after the last time he left a message on his voice mail. He told him that if it was as bad as it sounded he was to call him back after it was all over. Also around the same time Martha was trying to call him. She tried twice but no answer. She thought it seemed a little funny but didn't worry about him.

At 1:00 A.M. the Ohio State Police called Ralph. He had left his phone lay in the truck and after calling for the fifth time, they left a message on his phone asking him to return their call. His number was one of the last to appear on Dwayne's phone.

Martha woke again at 2:00 A.M. and tried calling again but still there was no answer. Then she started to worry a bit, but passed off the idea assuming that he may have stopped to rest a bit and would still arrive sometime in the morning. She knew he wanted to get home because he wanted to take his family to church. At 7:30 she got up and went about the normal routine on a Sunday morning preparing for church. She kept looking out the window to see if Dwayne's truck was backing in to his normal parking spot at the end of their lane.

At 8:00 A.M. the phone rang, breaking the silence of the otherwise quiet, empty house. It was the dispatcher for Stoltzfus Trucking, Dwayne's broker, and thinking she would know some details by now, wondered if she was by herself and went on to ask her if she had heard anything." What do you mean" she said, realizing that something was wrong. He explained to her that Dwayne was in an accident and "was taken."

Instantaneously she asked about the well being of the boys. He hadn't known that they were with him and told her that he would do his best to find out further details. She hoped for the best. Immediately she called Dwayne's parents and Mom answered. After Dad listened to Mom's side of the conversation and realizing something was wrong, he picked up the phone as well. He didn't hear the part about Dwayne, since Martha was talking about the boys. Dad asked about Dwayne and she said he was gone. After the phone conversation ended, Dad called Brandon and told him the news. Dad then dialed 911 immediately. He told them his son had been killed in an accident in Ohio and he wanted to know the where abouts of the two boys. She told him he had to call the Ohio State Police but then said "no wait" and hooked him up directly. They told him that everyone had been killed and that the boys were killed instantly. After learning of this additional tragedy, he called Marvin Freed's (Pastor of Dwayne's church), where they had also just received the sad news of the accident from the State Police. It had been a busy night for the Pennsylvania Police Department and the notice concerning the tragedy from the Ohio Police was not acted upon until the day shift team arrived. They had driven to Ken Freed's (also Pastor of Dwayne's church), and after asking them if they knew the Snyder's, informed them of the happenings that night. They also asked if they knew if anyone was with him. Ken's had known that the two boys were along on the trip, which confirmed the details that the Police had at that time.

After changing around from barn clothes, Marvin's and Ken's, along with the Police, drove up to Martha to inform her of the sudden tragedies, while in the mean time, Dad notified us of the boys' death. Phone calls were again made to family and friends to tell of the additional news of the boys'. This brought an end to all our hopes of the boys' survival, and left our minds swirling with questions, grasping to put the pieces together. However, Grandpa and Grandma Burkholder left Lancaster County before receiving the additional news of the boys' deaths, making the travel a long and worrisome trek. They had only received the first call that Dwayne had been killed, and the where abouts of the boys' was still unknown. It was only as Sunday progressed, that we were able learn some details of what had transpired that night. Here is the story as we understand it up to this point and some of the details we will never know on this side of heaven.

He was traveling east on the Ohio Turnpike and was at mile marker 105 when his truck drifted off the right shoulder. To those following him, it looked as if he was pulling off to the side of the road, but then striking a sign, and without any swerves or reaction, drove through a ditch and continued up the grassy embankment, slamming headlong under the overpass, wedging the truck between the grassy slope and the steel bridge beams. Parts of the truck and trailer came to rest on the road above, with apples (he was loaded with apples and cherries) strewn throughout the wreckage. Based on the information we know, hydraulic tools were used to pry open the wreckage where Dwayne and Chadwin were found. Derrick was ejected from the truck and was thrown onto the road above. When found, he was still clutching his tool truck. As it appears to the authorities and with the little information we know, it seems as though falling asleep was not the cause of the crash. This is only an assumption and we may never know what really took place in those few last seconds of our dear one's lives. But one thing we do know is that these life changing moments were not a surprise to the plan of our Heavenly Father. Things had not spun out of the control of our loving, understanding, sovereign God. For Chadwin and Derrick, after closing their eyes to sleep that night, and with the memories and scenes of the trip floating peacefully in their minds, they opened them again safe in the arms of Jesus. They are all taking in the scenes of heaven's perfect landscape and awesome sites, with maybe even Jesus himself giving them a tour of the things prepared for them, forever, made possible only through His shed blood. The legacies and testimonies left behind by their lives may very well spread further and have a greater impact in the lives of those touched by this sudden tragedy, then if they had lived "normal" lives making a difference where they could for His glory!!! It is our prayer that God would use this unexplainable experience to draw your heart to Himself. The huge hole and helpless feelings left in our aching hearts by this irreversible happening are mixed bitter-sweet as we surrender our wills to the will of our Father, and looking through the eyes of faith, know this could make a difference in someone's or many persons' life for eternity. We want to thank all of you for your prayers and support during this time. May you continue to plead for God's abundant grace, and never failing strength to be Martha and Emily's sustaining portion in the coming days, months, and years ahead.

Thank-you for your prayers,

The Snyder Family

mc8541ss · **^ Top** #5 08.28.2008

Thoughts and prayers go out to this family who has lost so much..................

LISTN'4JAKES · **^ Top** #6 08.31.2008

My thoughts and prayers to all involved!!! That is so sad.

RBPC · **^ Top** #7 10.06.2008

That was really hard to read. Thanks for sharing Brickman. My condolences and prayers for the family.

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