125 Years of Graduates

Vivian (Fike) Snader ’41 wasn’t alive when Frostburg State was founded in 1898. But at 104 years-old, and according to the University’s alumni records, she may be our oldest living graduate.

Snader currently resides in Salisbury, Md. Her daughter, Nancy Rowe, was touched and surprised to hear of her mother’s accomplishment.

“That’s amazing that my mom is your oldest living alumni. She turned 104 this past April,” Rowe wrote and explained that her mother has very recently started battling memory loss. “Unfortunately, Alzheimer’s disease has taken her personality away from us and that precious smile is no longer something that we see.”

According to Rowe, her mother was born and raised on a farm in Oakland, Md. Snader is the youngest of 10 children and the daughter of a Church of the Brethren minister. She learned to operate a tractor and tend to farm animals growing up. After high school, Snader attended Bridgewater College for her freshman year but then transferred to Frostburg and graduated in 1941. She lived in a house on Maple Street in Frostburg, with her older sister, Maria (Fike) McFarland.

Vivian Snader '41

Snader celebrates her 103rd birthday, making her the oldest living Frostburg alum.  

Snader then taught elementary school in Ellicott City and later Baltimore City at Thomas Jefferson Elementary Public School No. 232. She earned a library science degree from Towson University in the 1960s. Snader worked as an elementary school librarian until her retirement in the 1970s. She experienced many years of “good health in retirement, traveled and played lots of golf along the way,” Rowe said.

She and her husband moved from Catonsville to Salisbury in 1996 to be closer to Rowe. Snader lived independently until age 90, when she moved in with her daughter.

“I would love for her to be able to speak with you and share stories about her years at Frostburg but she isn’t able,” Rowe admitted, sadly. “She enjoyed her years at Frostburg State Teachers College and knew that she was well prepared for her career as a teacher.”