News

County IT director dies suddenly at Courthouse

By Bill Moss, Published: May 1, 2019

Becky Snyder, Henderson County's information technology director, died suddenly and unexpectedly while working at the Historic Courthouse on Tuesday despite "herculean and heroic" efforts to save her.

The Historic Courthouse employees and other county personnel were stunned to hear the news of Snyder's death. She was a person many of them because she worked on computer and software issues countywide. The wife of retired Henderson County library director Bill Snyder, Becky Snyder had been the county's IT director for 13 years and had worked in computer technology with the county before that.

"She was a wonderful person, a kind person, a caring person and a thoughtful person," County Manager Steve Wyatt said. "She was a maternal person to many county, I have been hearing from many county employees. She's a great part of the team," he added, committed to government service for the right reasons — to make things better for her fellow employees and the public.

"Becky left us yesterday morning," he said. "She was at work with Ms. (Amy) Brantley (the assistant county manager) and apparently the Man Upstairs had a problem with software that he could not fix and called on the best person he could think of. She left us suddenly, completely at peace.

"I was there within about a minute and every staff member and emergency personnel were there. It's a little bit stunning. The efforts of staff and emergency personnel to intervene were nothing short of herculean and heroic. They deserve our heartfelt appreciation."

In the end, despite the efforts, the rescue personnel were unable to save her. Wyatt said he did not know a cause of death.

"These matters are settled in a way that defies comprehension for us," Wyatt said. A memorial service is planned, he said, but no arrangements have been finalized.