Emma Snyder | |||||||||||
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As the World Turns character | |||||||||||
Portrayed by | Kathleen Widdoes | ||||||||||
First appearance | July 1985 | ||||||||||
Last appearance | June 29, 2010 | ||||||||||
Profile | |||||||||||
Occupation | Farmer | ||||||||||
Residence | The Snyder Farm RR#2, Box 600 Luther's Corners, IL 61324 |
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Spouse | Harvey Snyder |
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Sons | |
Daughters | |
Adoptive daughters | Iva Snyder |
Grandchildren |
Lily Walsh (adoptive) Rose D'Angelo (adoptive) MJ Dixon (adoptive) Abigail Williams Noel Snyder (adoptive) Aaron Snyder Luke Snyder (adoptive) Faith Snyder Natalie Snyder Ethan Snyder |
Emma Snyder is a fictional character on the American soap opera As the World Turns. The character was originated in 1985 by actress Kathleen Widdoes, who continued to appear on the program until June 29, 2010.
Emma Snyder raised five children alone after the untimely death of her husband. A farm girl, Emma ran the Snyder farm (originally her family's farm) single-handedly. By the time her kids were practically grown though, the farm had fallen on hard times and was in danger of being foreclosed. At this time, only Emma’s youngest children, Holden and Meg were living at home. To help his mother, Holden began working as a stable boy for the wealthy Lucinda Walsh and ended up meeting her teenage daughter Lily, who ended up in a rivalry with Meg over Dusty Donovan. While trying to help her children sort out their romantic lives, Emma was still mourning the loss of her oldest daughter, Iva, who ran away at the age of thirteen. Emma could never understand why Iva ran away and why, now fifteen years later, she’d never heard from her. Later, who showed up at Emma's doorstep but Iva? However, Emma was still hurt that Iva had never contacted the family and wasn’t quick to receive her back into the family. She was, however, very accepting of Lily Walsh and warmly welcomed her to stay at the farm, despite Lucinda’s disapproval. A year later, Emma and everyone else, learned the secret that caused Iva to run away years earlier. Apparently, while visiting her aunt and uncle in Kansas, a thirteen year old Iva was raped by her cousin, Josh. Upon learning she was pregnant, Iva ran off to Chicago to a home for unwed mothers where she gave birth to a daughter. That daughter was none other than Holden’s girlfriend, Lily! While everyone was concerned that Holden was in love with his niece, Emma revealed some secrets of her own. First, the Snyders adopted Iva since her biological family, Carpenters, was too poor to take care of her. In addition, Josh was not Henry Snyder’s biological son, which meant that Holden and Lily were not really related at all.
Soon after, Emma’s oldest child, Seth, returned home. An aspiring writer, Seth decided to forgo his dream in order to help his mother run the farm. Meanwhile, the remaining Snyder children, Caleb and Ellie, arrived from Chicago and became embroiled in their own intrigue. Throughout it all, Emma remained a stabilizing influence and gave her children unconditional support and love. While her children’s love lives were complicated, Emma’s was fairly simple. Having not dated since her husband died decades earlier, Emma finally accepted the attention of Dr. John Dixon. At the same time, the wealthy Cal Stricklyn (Josh’s biological father) attempted to woo her as well. Although she ended up choosing Cal, Emma felt that marrying again, even after all these years, would be betraying her husband. Years later, after some encouragement from Seth, Emma began a career as a romance novelist and began a relationship with her publisher, Ned Simon. Though that relationship showed promise, it ended when Ned, who was suddenly under stress, died of a cerebral hemorrhage. Immediately after, Emma was shocked to learn that Ned had murdered the man who had hurt his unstable daughter.