Aug 01, 2003   | COMMENTS     

Bryant D. Snapp, editorial page copy chief at the Washington Post, and his partner David Hancock, a computer technician, died July 22 from injuries sustained in a car accident in Washington state. Snapp was 36; Hancock was 45.

The couple, who celebrated a commitment ceremony in Hawaii last year, lived in Takoma Park, Md. They were on vacation in Seattle when the accident occurred, near Toledo, Wash.

At the time, they were returning from a trip to Mount St. Helens in a BMW sedan driven by a friend, Seattle landscape architect David Ringstrom, 49, who also was killed. A water tanker veered into the lane in which the BMW was traveling and struck Ringstrom’s vehicle head-on. The driver of the water tanker survived.

Snapp graduated from Edison High School and then attended the University of Virginia, where he served as the University Journal newspaper’s editor in chief. Before joining the Washington Post’s national copy desk in 1999, he worked as a copy editor at the Washington Times for nine years and as a medical editor in Philadelphia.

Snapp was a member of the American Copy Editors Society and the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association. In addition, he was one of the first members of the Washington Renegades Rugby Team, an organization for gay players.

“Although he never took the pitch, he was constantly seen on the sidelines cheering the team on,” Matt Leigh, president of the Washington Renegades, said in a written statement.

Leigh also said Snapp touched many lives and would be missed.

Hancock grew up in Honolulu and studied at a community college. After relocating to Washington, D.C., in the 1970s, he worked at Catholic University as a computer support staff member. He recently resigned to obtain advanced computer training and was working as a waiter at the time of his death.

Hancock is survived by his mother, Anna Hancock of Honolulu.

Snapp is survived by his mother and stepfather, Deborah Snapp and Martin Tomlin; his father and stepmother, Michael and Audrey Snapp; brother, Joel Snapp; and grandmother, Mildred Snapp, all of Alexandria, Va.

Both men were cremated in Seattle.

Snapp’s memorial service will be held at noon Saturday, Aug. 2, at Bush Hill Presbyterian Church, 4916 Franconia Road in Alexandria, Va.
- DWAUN SELLERS

W. Myron Maye, 47
Wortha Myron Maye, a musician, composer and director of music for Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C., died Thursday, July 17, from AIDS-related complications at his home in Washington, D.C. He was 47.

The cum laude graduate of Howard University was well known throughout the region for his musical skills. In the late 1970s, he was an instrumental arranger and keyboard player for Howard University’s Children’s Theater Workshops. During the 1980s, Maye simultaneously directed the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in D.C., and St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Montgomery County, Md.

Maye composed such pieces as “Five Songs on Friendship,” “Three Players,” “There’s Always a Rainbow,” and “Black Fairy.” All were performed at local concerts and musical productions. He also served as a vocal coach for local artists and was a singer himself, performing with the Nevilla Ottley Singers, the Federal City Performing Arts Association Male Chorus, and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C.

In addition to his love of music, Maye helped found Brother to Brother, Sister to Sister United Inc., a predominantly African-American cycling group that raises money for HIV/AIDS charities, among other causes. He also served as a flight attendant with U.S. Airways for 12 years.

He is survived by his father and stepmother, Wortha Leon and Peggy Maye; grandmother, Clementine H. Barnes; sisters Maxine Maye and Delphine Harriston; brother and sister-in-law Nadine and Darryl Maye; five nieces and one nephew; former partner Wallace L. Corbett Jr. of Washington; longtime friends Dr. Doddjerry McMillion, Joseph Harper and Clint Carbon, all of suburban Maryland; goddaughter Samantha Harper of Calif.; and numerous cousins, friends and family members.
- DWAUN SELLERS

Obituary Policy
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