Irene "Nena" M. Snyder

Irene "Nena" Medina Snyder was born on March 19th 1951 in Houston, TX, and born-again by water and the Spirit in 1989 at The Woodlands First Baptist Church. Because of her baptism into Christ and her good confession of the faith we take great comfort in God’s Word at Mark 16:16: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved…”. The holy angels took her to the LORD Jesus Christ on October 15th 2021 at the age of 70.

On May 22nd 1980 Irene married her true love John Snyder. John had a job in downtown Houston. It was downtown that Irene was a bartender and John was a patron. They fell in love and Irene proposed to John. The rest is history and a great history at that. Less than six years later, on March 22nd 1986, John and Irene were blessed when their beloved son, Andrew John, came into the world. The birth of Andrew was a fantastic gift to John and Irene, especially because Irene was certain she could not bear a child. Andrew was always her “baby” even into his adulthood: when she called him that it came straight from the heart of a loving mother always expressing how precious he was to her.

When Andrew married Elizabeth (nee Espinosa) on August 15th 2009, Irene was overjoyed for gaining a daughter. She couldn’t help of course but begin wishing for a grandchild. Her prayer was answered when on October 6th 2019 baby Elizabeth “Lizzy” Christina Snyder was born. To see Irene holding baby Lizzy was to see the picture of someone walking on a cloud.

Irene had many gifts, but one of the most evident gifts was her constantly exuding love, joy, and friendliness. These traits in her were always shining brightly. She could make friends with anyone. She didn’t know a stranger. As one of her friends has put it: “Irene will truly be missed by many. Her joyful spirit was contagious and she would brighten up any room.”

In a world that is filled with so much loneliness, Irene would not stand for it, and she always shared her joy. For example, she would call her sister Dora everyday with the greeting, “Praise the Lord my sister!” And as for her faith, she was unashamedly a Christian, proud to bear the name of Christ! She loved the Lord because she knew that He loved her (1st John 4:19).

Irvine loved everything that is Texas! She would get all dressed up and when she put on her cowgirl boots and red lipstick, you knew she ready and rarin’ to go! She loved the special occasions for celebrating life, being with family, playing cards with friends, soaking in God’s beautiful creation outdoors, loving God’s creation from cats to cows; and listening to praise music to the Lord Jesus.

Nena is preceded in death by her beloved sister Lucy M. Galaviz. She is survived by her wonderful husband John, her dedicated son Andrew, her adored daugher-in-law Elizabeth Dawn Snyder and her beautiful grand-daughter Elizabeth Christina Snyder, her dear brothers Antonio Medina Jr. and Rudy Medina, and also by her beloved sister Aurora M. Salazar. Because Irene loved supporting the charity Save the Children, please consider memorial gifts to them at savethechildren.org

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26) This truth of God’s Word means that Irene is not dead, but alive. In fact, more alive today than ever before. We now await for the Lord’s glorious coming and when that occurs, the great resurrection when those who trusted in God’s love and mercy in Jesus will be gathered at the King’s right hand. On that day, we will be able to hold each other again. The day is coming soon. It will be here before we know it. Let us prepare by holding to Jesus, and while carrying on the legacy of sharing the joy that Irene showed us. We will see her soon as we hold to Jesus.