In Memoriam: Neil Snyder

Neal Snyder attended Reed College in Oregon before graduating Phi Beta Kappa from UC

Berkeley with a BA and MA in sociology, and obtained his JD from Hastings College. As an attorney, he specialized in protecting children from abuse-an area he helped make a legal specialty-and became a role model for many others in the field. Neal worked for the California State Department of Social Services in day care licensing litigation. He was a co-founder of CAPSAC, drafted its initial bylaws and assisted with its incorporation. Because CAPSAC preceded APSAC in its incorporation and initially focused on child sexual abuse, Neal proposed renaming APSAC from its initially proposed name, the American Professional Society on the Victimization of Children (APSVOC), to the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) and changing CAPSAC's name from the "California Association of Professionals on the Sexual Abuse of Children" to the "California Professional Society on the Abuse of Children." He continued to serve as a board member, supporter, and consultant to CAPSAC for the rest of his life. Neal was an intelligent, even tempered, positive, athletic, and kind man who loved jazz, his wife, Yvonne Garcia, their annual visits to Thailand, his children and grandchildren.