Virginia Lansford ("Ginger") Snider

Virginia Lansford (“Ginger”) Snider passed away on Monday, March 4 in her apartment in New York City. She was 77 years old. Ginger was born on July 17, 1946 in Chicago, Illinois but grew up in her beloved home state of Tennessee, first living in Crossville and then she moved with her family to Signal Mountain in Chattanooga at age 7. She was the daughter of Joseph Dunlop Brown and Sue Ann Kemmer Lansford. After the passing of Mr. Brown, Sue Ann re-married and Ginger became the stepdaughter of the late Edwin G. Lansford, Sr. Ginger was close with and cared deeply about her parents as well as her siblings, Sandy, Gaines (deceased), Jim (deceased) and Scott. Ginger attended Girls Preparatory School in Chattanooga (so bright that she graduated at age 16) and then Memphis State University and also Washington State University. After school, she worked with Native American families in Washington and Idaho and then went on to be a flight attendant with Delta Airlines, based out of Salt Lake City. Eventually, she made her way to Washington, DC where she changed careers and met L. Britt (“Britt”) Snider who she married in 1974. They had a son, Britt Arnold (“Barney”) Snider, in 1976 and lived in northern Virginia, just outside of Washington, DC for over 30 years. Ginger and Britt divorced in 2011. Once in DC, Ginger lived an eventful life and had a successful legal career in the antitrust area. She worked at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, DC for nearly 20 years working with a close team of colleagues there before taking on the role as an in-house antitrust consultant for the law firm of Rogers & Wells, which later became Clifford Chance, and eventually ended her professional career at Weil Gotchal & Manges. Ginger was always heavily involved in her son’s schools and activities and was one of the founding Board members of Washington Episcopal School in Bethesda, Maryland. Ginger had a sharp wit and a contagious laugh. She was an amazing writer and had strong opinions. She believed in equal rights, strong and independent women, and in helping people who were not as fortunate or who did not have a clear path forward. She gave great advice and was a strong leader. She was generous to her friends and to causes that were important to her. In her later years, Ginger lived in New York City. A self-proclaimed “country girl living in the big city,” she loved New York and everything about it. She spent many of these years in New York with her late companion, Tommy Burk. Ginger loved her New York friends who always kept an eye on her, attended Broadway shows, Yankees games and various neighborhood events with her. Ginger cared deeply about her family and especially loved taking her granddaughters around New York and spending as much time with them as she could. Ginger was preceded in death by her mother, Sue Ann, father, Joseph, stepfather, Edwin, and brothers, Gaines and Jim. She is survived by her son, Barney, daughter-in-law, Keeley, granddaughters, Katherine, Maeve and Eliza, sister, Sandy, brother, Scott, nephews, Foster and Scott Jr., and niece, Kristin. There will be a private, family-only service and burial in Crossville, Tennessee and a celebration of Ginger’s life in the Washington, DC area later this spring. Instead of flowers, please consider a donation in her name to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, one of Ginger’s favorite charities.