Madonna Lou Skelton was born on March 23, 1933 in Greencastle, Indiana. She was the first child and only daughter of Raymond Skelton and Dora Pauline Pitts Skelton.
She was educated in Putnam and White counties before marrying her high school sweetheart, Clifford Dean Snyder, in 1950. She lived most of her adult life in Indianapolis, Indiana where Madonna focused on raising her family. She was also very involved in her faith community at First Baptist Church and at Congregation of the Covenants. She obtained a Bachelor’s Degree from IUPUI and was employed by Exodus Refugee Resettlement Ministry as a Case Worker. She became strongly connected to the Burmese refugees who settled in Indianapolis. Madonna had a passion for family history and genealogy. You’d always find her in the library doing research. She also enjoyed being on the beach in Cape Cod, MA where she would collect seashells.
After 33 years of marriage to Clifford ended in divorce, in 1994 Madonna married again. Kway “Kenneth” Han Soe, an artist and professor of history, fled to the US from Burma where he and Madonna married. He died in 2008. Madonna had four children three of whom are living: Karen (Larry), David (Lisa) and John (Tonya) Snyder. She has five grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
Madonna died on July 9,2021 at Rosegate Senior Living where she resided for 2 months, previously living in the Nora area. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, August 14, 2021 at First Baptist Church, 8600 N College Ave, Indianapolis, IN. Her ashes will be interred next to her stillborn infant son, Anthony Wayne Snyder, in the Davis Cemetery, Burnettsville, Indiana.