Esther Lavelle Snyder (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Johnson) (January 7, 1920 – August 4, 2006) was an American businesswoman. She co-founded

In-N-Out Burger In-N-Out Burgers, doing business as In-N-Out Burger, is an American regional chain of fast food restaurants with locations primarily in California and to a lesser extent the Southwest from Oregon to Texas. It was founded in Baldwin Park, Ca ...

, with her husband

Harry Snyder Harry Snyder (September 9, 1913 – December 14, 1976) was a Canadian-born American businessman. He co-founded In-N-Out Burger along with his wife Esther Snyder. Snyder was one of the first people to develop the idea of a drive-through hamburger ...

, in 1948. Snyder was the fast-food chain's president from January 2000 until her death.

Early life

Snyder was born and raised in

Sorento, Illinois Sorento is a village in Shoal Creek Township, Bond County, Illinois, United States. The population was 429 at the 2020 census. Sorento is part of the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is also considered part of the Metro East regio ...

, as the fifth of eight children (seven daughters, one son) to parents Orla and Mabel Johnson. She attended

Greenville College Greenville University is a private university in Greenville, Illinois, United States. It is affiliated with the Free Methodist Church. Established as Greenville College in 1892, the institution was renamed Greenville University in 2017. History ...

and graduated from

Seattle Pacific University Seattle Pacific University (SPU) is a private Christian university in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 in conjunction with the Oregon and Washington Conference of the Free Methodist Church as the Seattle Seminary. It ...

with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

Career

During In-N-Out's early years, Snyder managed all of the company bookkeeping herself, creating thousands of pages of handwritten notes and accounts. From January 2000 until her August 2006 death, Snyder served as the company's president.

Personal life

She met

in 1947, while working at a restaurant in Seattle; the two were married the following year and moved to

Baldwin Park, California Baldwin Park is a city located in the central San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 72,176, down from 75,390 at the 2010 United States c ...

. By the late 1950s, the couple had moved to a larger house in the nearby city of

San Dimas, California San Dimas (Spanish language, Spanish for "Penitent thief, Saint Dismas") is a city in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 34,924. It historic ...

. Esther and Harry Snyder had three children: biological sons

Guy Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an uninc ...

(1951-1999) and Rich Snyder (1952-1993), and an adopted son named Wilbur Stites (1951-1979), a local orphan whom the Snyders began fostering in the early 1960s. Esther outlived her husband, who died in 1976 from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

and all three of their sons: Guy succumbed to a drug overdose, Rich died in a plane crash and Wilbur was killed in an automobile accident. Following her husband's death, Snyder spent the last two decades of her life living in

Glendora, California Glendora is a city in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County, California, east of Los Angeles. As of the 2020 census, the population of Glendora was 52,558. World-famous Route 66 runs through the city. Known as the "Pride of the Footh ...

, where she owned a home that author Stacy Perman described as "a ranch house shaded by oak trees and fronted by a white fence."

Death

Snyder died on August 4, 2006, in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

, aged 86, from undisclosed causes. Her only grandchild, Lynsi Snyder, is now the heiress to the In-N-Out Burger company.

Esther Snyder Community Center

Since In-N-Out Burger was started in the city of Baldwin Park, the city named its community center after Esther Snyder.

Early life

Career

Personal life

Death

Esther Snyder Community Center

References

Further reading