Esther Snyder | |
---|---|
Born |
Esther Lavelle Johnson January 7, 1920 Sorento, Illinois |
Died | August 4, 2006 Baldwin Park, California |
(aged 86)
Nationality | American |
Known for | Co-founding In-N-Out Burger |
Esther Lavelle Snyder (née Johnson) (January 7, 1920 – August 4, 2006) was an American businesswoman. She co-founded In-N-Out Burger, with her husband Harry Snyder, in 1948.
Snyder was born and raised in Sorento, Illinois as one of eight children (seven daughters, one son). She attended Greenville College and graduated from Seattle Pacific University with a bachelor's degree in Zoology.
She met Harry Snyder in 1947, while working at a restaurant in Seattle; the two were married the following year and moved to Baldwin Park, California.
Esther and Harry Snyder had two sons: Harry Guy (more commonly referred to by simply "Guy"; born 1951) and Richard Snyder (born 1952) and one granddaughter from their first son Guy: Lynsi (born 1982). She outlived her husband, who died in 1976 and both of their sons, of whom one died in a plane crash and the other succumbed to a drug overdose.
She died on August 4, 2006 in Baldwin Park, California, aged 86, from undisclosed causes. She is survived by her only grandchild, Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson , who is now the heir to the In-N-Out Burger company.
Since the In-N-Out Burgers were started in the city of Baldwin Park in California, the city named their own community center after Esther Snyder.