Robert Snyder, 84, Labor Lawyer

Robert T. Snyder, a labor lawyer and former judge with the National Labor Relations Board, died in his sleep at his Sag Harbor house on Dec. 10, after returning from a rehearsal for the annual holiday concert of the Sag Harbor Community Band, with which he played clarinet.  He was 84 and had not been ill.

Mr. Snyder, who also lived in New York City and spent the month of January in Sanibel, Fla., “was passionate about his music, and passionate about the law,” his wife of 16 years, Elaine Congress, said.

Educated at Columbia College and the Columbia University School of Law, Mr. Snyder believed that the law was an “essential component of our democracy,” Ms. Congress said. He had also worked as an arbitrator in recent years.

Devoted to Columbia, Mr. Snyder was president of his alumni class and followed its football, basketball, and baseball teams. A memorial service will be held for him at 2 p.m. on March 28 at the Princeton/Columbia Club in New York City.

His family said he loved Sag Harbor, his second home since 1970, and was a contributor to a collection of oral histories about the village called  “Voices of Sag Harbor.”

He was born on April 7, 1930, in the Bronx to Arthur Snyder and the former Sylvia Markowitz. He grew up on Long Island at Long Beach, where he worked as a lifeguard and began playing jazz as a teenager. He had been a member of the Sag Harbor Community Band for many years, and had also participated in chamber music groups in Sag Harbor, Manhattan, and Sanibel. A sports fan, he not only followed his favorite teams but played tennis throughout his life.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Adam Snyder of Brooklyn, an 8-year-old grandson, and his son’s mother, Patricia Stegman of Brooklyn and Quogue. He also was said to be very close to a cousin who survives, Joan Snyder of Chevy Chase, Md.

A service was held at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in Sag Harbor on Dec. 14, followed by burial at Oakland Cemetery in Sag Harbor.  Contributions have been suggested in his memory to one of the organizations he supported, including Amnesty International, 5 Penn Plaza, 16th Floor, New York 10001; Doctors without Borders, P.O. Box 5030, Hagerstown, Md. 21741-5030;  Channel 13 (PBS), 450 West 33rd Street, New York 10001-2605, or the American Friends Service Committee, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19102.