Ava Nyrell Snyder Basham, 96, of Port Deposit, passed away the morning of May 13, 2025. She was born to the late Mozell (McKnight) and Clayton Davis in Galax, VA on June 23, 1928.

Nyrell was very dedicated to her community. She loved meeting new people and devoted a lot of her time to investing in the future of the children, having volunteered as a Brownie Leader (Girl Scouts) for twenty years and working as an Assistant Teacher at West Nottingham Academy and Rising Sun Elementary. Her involvement with her community included a Tour Director and Advisor for the Board of Cecil County Home Makers, a member of the Cecil County Council for Women, a Cecil County Fair Board member, a member of Harford Memorial Hospital Ladies Auxiliary, District Director for Maryland (the Cecil, Kent, Talbot, Queen Anne’s, and Caroline Counties), and as a Member of Red Hat Society. She also worked as a travel agent for A&J Travel Agency. She was an avid book reader, and will always be remembered saying, “if you read books, it makes you smart.”

Nyrell is survived by her son: Johnny Snyder, and his wife Darla; her brother: Thomas Davis; her sister: Inell Goodman; her grandchild: Amy Ormstrom; her step-grandchildren: Jennifer Johnson, and Michelle Cooke; two great-grandchildren; ten step-great-grandchildren; and her step-great-great-grandchildren: Dylan and Bentley Ragan. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her late husbands: Curtis Snyder and Leon Basham; her brother: Clayton Davis; and her sister: Marcell Howell.

A celebration of Nyrell’s life will be held on May 22, 2025 at the R.T. Foard Funeral Home in Rising Sun, MD (111 South Queen Street). The family will be accepting guests at 10 a.m. with the services beginning at 11 a.m. followed by a burial at West Nottingham Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the “Girl Scouts of the USA,” sent in care to R.T. Foard Funeral Home, P.A. at P.O. Box 248, Rising Sun, MD 21911.