Michael C. Snyderman, MD
December 7, 1941 – September 21, 2025
Dr. Michael Snyderman, 83, of Orchard Park, NY, passed away peacefully on September 21, 2025 after a short hospitalization at Mercy Hospital of Buffalo where he had recently retired at age 81 after 45 years and had been awarded Legacy Provider of Catholic Health. He was a physician, devoted husband, loving father and grandfather, known to all as a kind, soft-spoken, generous and purpose-driven man, born on December 7, 1941, the day of the Pearl Harbor attack.
He was a brilliant diagnostician whose patients knew would not stop “turning every stone” to find the answer to help them. In 1999, when a surgeon’s wife fell ill with a mysterious illness, Dr. Snyderman “cracked the arsenic poisoning case” by examining her blood and bone marrow.
Dr. Snyderman was born and raised in Philadelphia, an only child during the Depression, to parents who had a kind of 1930’s Bohemian Jewish background. His father, George Snyderman, was a PhD in anthropology who worked as a vocational counselor for the State of Pennsylvania. He did anthropology field work with the Seneca nation in Western New York and his mother, Sara (Aronson) Snyderman, was an artist who helped him type his transcripts and translations. The Haudenosaunee tribe adopted the family and Michael, a young teenager then, was named “Edun Te Ta” (He who sits by the fire.)
Dr. Snyderman earned his medical degree at Temple University Medical School and completed Internal Medicine residency at the Temple University Health Science Center in 1970. When the Army cancelled his induction at the last minute, he did a Hematology fellowship at Temple for one year, then served for two years in the US Army, with the rank of Major, from 1971 to 1973. He then joined the Roswell Park Memorial Hospital in 1973 as a medical oncology fellow and became an attending physician in the breast department in 1975. He was triple Board-certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Oncology. He then left for the southtowns to become the Chief of Oncology and Hematology in the Department of Medicine at Mercy Hospital in 1978 and had a private practice and treated several generations of patients with cancer and blood disorders.
Dr. Snyderman was a clinical professor of the University at Buffalo medical school and taught hundreds of internal medicine residents and medical students over the years who came to Mercy Hospital for education and training. Dr. Snyderman was a beloved teacher and was awarded by the medical residents as “Best Teaching Attending” not once, but three times. He also received the “Love Award” from the Catholic Health System for outstanding service.
After his retirement from clinical practice in April of 2023, Dr. Snyderman continued to passionately research his interest investigating the role of retroviruses in advanced cancer, neuroinflammatory and autoimmune diseases. He taught himself bioinformatics and studied human genomes to identify the evidence of viral DNA in tumor samples. He established the non-profit Research Institute of Viral Oncology to investigate using genomics to determine whether the infection of cancer by viruses could cause a low-grade cancer to turn into a highly malignant cancer. His research foundation also supported the study of antiviral drug treatments of cancer.
Dr. Snyderman was an artist at heart. His painted and sculpted and played several woodwind instruments and his favorites were a clarinet and oboe d’amore. He studied jazz, blues and gospel with Willie Humphrey of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. He dabbled in composing and premiered his original score of “Aphrodite’s Song”. His belief is that one should strive to write music that is beautiful and touching. His favorite composers are Brahms and Ravel. He is an animal lover and all his pets were adopted rescues. He and his wife shared a home with their many kitties in the first 30 years, but he became a dog person when they adopted a Jack-a-Poo mixed terrier whom he named Doc Watson because he is always sniffing for clues.
Dr. Snyderman is survived by his wife of 33 years, Dr. Zerline Snyderman (Tiu), two sons and two daughters-in-law, Dr. David and Barbara Snyderman of Rochester, NY and Aaron and Rhianon Wood-Snyderman of Seattle, WA; grandson Jacob Snyderman and Jacob’s wife Sara Rosen of Rochester, NY and grandson Nathaniel Snyderman of Rochester, NY. He is also survived by many family and friends who will miss him.
A Private Graveside Service will be held by the family, followed by a Celebration of Life at a later time.
Charitable donations in his memory can be made to the SPCA serving Erie County or to the American Philosophical Society in support of the care of the collection of papers provided by his father, Dr. George S. Snyderman.
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