Austin WWII veteran celebrates 100th birthday

Austin WWII vet turns 100 years old

An Austin man who served in World War II is celebrating being a century old Wednesday. FOX 7 Austin's Angela Shen spoke with him in Central Austin.

AUSTIN, Texas - An Austin World War II veteran is celebrating his 100th birthday. 

The backstory:

Bernard Snyder was born on Jan. 21, 1926, in South Carolina, but has lived in Austin since he was six. 

He joined the Navy at 18-years-old. His brother was a Navy officer. 

Snyder became a radarman, which was new technology at the time.

His ship, the aircraft carrier USS Chenango, narrowly avoided destruction in the Pacific. The ship survived Japanese bombers and a Kamikaze pilot who overshot his target. The other ships in the Carrier Strike Group were damaged. 

"War is luck. You can be in the worst situation, and nothing happens, or you just wake up and the next day you're dead. You don't really know what's going to happen to you," Snyder said.

After the war, he went back to UT Austin and studied accounting. He later earned an MBA.

He met his first wife in college. They were married for 74 years and had three children. Now, he even has great-great-grandchildren.

Snyder spent 30 years in retail, running women's clothing store Snyder-Chenards with his family. It grew to seven locations.

He spent six years on the Austin Planning Commission and was involved in numerous other organizations. 

He switched to real estate at age 54, but the economy tanked in the 1980s. 

Snyder worked the stock market to rebuild his portfolio, which he still works on. Reading the Wall Street Journal is still his daily routine. 

"I watch the stock every day, so I try to be busy," he said.

He lost his first wife in 2023, but he found love again in his retirement home, marrying again in 2024. 

He celebrated a century of life at birthday parties throughout the week.

His secret to a long, healthy life?

"Curiosity. I've spent my life being curious, and my mother said to me, 'if you travel around the world, you don't need a college education.' I had [that], but I've traveled around the world," he said.