‘He never met a stranger’ | Granddaughter remembers Orange City man who died preparing for Milton

By Pamela Comme

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    ORANGE CITY, Florida (WESH) — At least four people died during Hurricane Milton in Volusia County.

One of them was 66-year-old Randy Snyder.

He was boarding up his home in Orange City when the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said he had a heart attack.

“He meant a lot to me,” said Kelsey Farmer, Snyder’s granddaughter. “We were close. And, I think I’m one of the people taking this the hardest, but, you know, I know he’s in a better place, you know, and not struggling with his health and things like that.”

Farmer is heartbroken after she lost her grandad on Tuesday.

“It kind of was a shock,” she said. “We, you know, we, we didn’t think it was going to be anytime soon, you know.”

Farmer said she was working when she got the call. She rushed out of work and to her grandad’s home.

“I was like 20 minutes away, but yeah, I was able to come here and be here with her (grandma). And then we went to the emergency room all together,” she said.

Snyder passed, and now Famer is holding on to all the good memories.

“He never knew a stranger,” Farmer said. “You know, like, everybody knew him. And through the church, at the grocery store, everywhere, you know.”

Even Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood had much to say about him.

“I just met for the first time at the Deland homecoming parade,” Chitwood said. “He couldn’t have been nicer to me and talking about law enforcement in the county. “

This is just one of four deaths in the county.

“There’s an effect to this thing, too,” Chitwood said. “You have to think of these natural disasters … people lose their lives unexpectedly. And the property damage that goes with that. “

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