Co-Founder Of In-N-Out Burgers Dies At 86 Sat Aug 5, 5:39 PM ET
Esther L. Snyder, who founded the In-N-Out Burgers restaurant chain with her husband, has died. She was 86.
The family declined to release further details including the cause of death, said Bob Emmers of Sitrick and Company, which handles public relations for the chain.
Snyder, who died Friday, was reported to be in poor health according to a lawsuit filed earlier this year by a former executive, who accused Snyder's granddaughter of attempting to engineer a coup to force her out.
In a statement, Lynsi Martinez praised her grandmother as a "great lady."
"She was an inspiration for all the associates at In-N-Out and for all the people in the community whose lives she touched over the years," Martinez said.
Snyder opened the first In-N-Out drive-through stand in Baldwin Park in 1948 with her husband, Harry Snyder. In-N-Out now has 202 restaurants in California, Arizona and Nevada.
The Synders' business plan was simple: Serve fresh burgers in a "two-way speaker" drive-through concept. While her husband ran the day-to-day operations, Snyder was in charge of the books and occasionally helped out in the kitchen by molding meat patties by hand and slicing tomatoes and onions.
Snyder grew up in Sorrento, Ill., and attended Greenville College and later Seattle Pacific University, where she graduated with a zoology degree in 1947. She met her future husband while working as a manager in a Seattle restaurant.
The couple had two children, Guy and Rich, who ran the company at different times. When Harry Snyder died in 1976, Rich Snyder took charge of the burger chain. After Rich Snyder was killed in a 1993 plane crash, Guy Snyder led the company with his mother until his death six years later of an accidental drug overdose.
"Mrs. Snyder showed us all how to be a great leader and businessperson. She expected hard work from associates and in return she believed in rewarding them well and treating them as members of one family," said Mark Taylor, In-N-Out vice president of operations, who will succeed Snyder as president.
In January, company executive Richard Boyd filed a lawsuit claiming Martinez and Taylor wrongly tried to fire Boyd and that Martinez, who is Snyder's only grandchild, tried to overthrow the founder. In-N-Out attorney Arnold Wensinger said the suit contained inaccuracies. It was eventually settled in May and terms of the deal were never disclosed.
Funeral arrangements were pending but services will be private.
***I'm truly sorry for your loss, Mark.
Esther L. Snyder, who founded the In-N-Out Burgers restaurant chain with her husband, has died. She was 86.
The family declined to release further details including the cause of death, said Bob Emmers of Sitrick and Company, which handles public relations for the chain.
Snyder, who died Friday, was reported to be in poor health according to a lawsuit filed earlier this year by a former executive, who accused Snyder's granddaughter of attempting to engineer a coup to force her out.
In a statement, Lynsi Martinez praised her grandmother as a "great lady."
"She was an inspiration for all the associates at In-N-Out and for all the people in the community whose lives she touched over the years," Martinez said.
Snyder opened the first In-N-Out drive-through stand in Baldwin Park in 1948 with her husband, Harry Snyder. In-N-Out now has 202 restaurants in California, Arizona and Nevada.
The Synders' business plan was simple: Serve fresh burgers in a "two-way speaker" drive-through concept. While her husband ran the day-to-day operations, Snyder was in charge of the books and occasionally helped out in the kitchen by molding meat patties by hand and slicing tomatoes and onions.
Snyder grew up in Sorrento, Ill., and attended Greenville College and later Seattle Pacific University, where she graduated with a zoology degree in 1947. She met her future husband while working as a manager in a Seattle restaurant.
The couple had two children, Guy and Rich, who ran the company at different times. When Harry Snyder died in 1976, Rich Snyder took charge of the burger chain. After Rich Snyder was killed in a 1993 plane crash, Guy Snyder led the company with his mother until his death six years later of an accidental drug overdose.
"Mrs. Snyder showed us all how to be a great leader and businessperson. She expected hard work from associates and in return she believed in rewarding them well and treating them as members of one family," said Mark Taylor, In-N-Out vice president of operations, who will succeed Snyder as president.
In January, company executive Richard Boyd filed a lawsuit claiming Martinez and Taylor wrongly tried to fire Boyd and that Martinez, who is Snyder's only grandchild, tried to overthrow the founder. In-N-Out attorney Arnold Wensinger said the suit contained inaccuracies. It was eventually settled in May and terms of the deal were never disclosed.
Funeral arrangements were pending but services will be private.
***I'm truly sorry for your loss, Mark.
