John Snyder, former president of the Adleta Corp. in Carrollton, Tex., died March 24 of complications from leukemia. He was 68.
Snyder began his floor covering career with Armstrong in 1964 after graduating from Marquette University. He joined Adleta in 1973 as resilient sales manager when the company entered the floor covering business as an Armstrong distributor. Six years later he was promoted to vice president and in 1992 became president. He was active in the corporation until his death, serving the last three years as a director.
Snyder was in large part responsible for Adleta’s growth, expanding from north Texas to a seven-state territory that includes Arkansas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico and Mississippi. The company today is among the 15 largest floor covering distributors in the U.S.
John Sher, who succeeded Snyder as president of Adleta, said employees and customers were always paramount with Snyder. “If you ask John about his No. 1 business goal, it was the success and development of the people he worked with,” Sher said. “He was a continuous coach.” Even Sher learned from Snyder. “I learned things truly had to be a win-win. He taught me about the value of listening and finding a way to compromise.”
When it came to customers, Sher said, “John’s theory was ‘Yes is the answer. Now what is the question?’ He would do everything he could in order to get to a yes.”
Snyder is survived by his wife of 40 years, Mary Carole; son Matt and daughter-in-law Bettina.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to the Marquette University Advancement John F. Snyder Scholarship Fund, Marquette University, Zilber Hall, 1250 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53201.