The Ames Police Department announced Monday that Sgt. Howard Snider, 51, died in a water accident Sunday, June 17, at Geode State Park in southern Iowa, about 30 minutes from Burlington, Iowa.

Snider, who had previously been a correctional officer at the Iowa State Penitentiary and had served in the U.S. Marine Corps, began working for the Ames Police on Jan. 23, 1989, as a patrol officer. Snider was promoted to corporal on Oct. 21, 1997 and to sergeant on Oct. 15, 2002.

While with the Ames Police, Snider worked with the Central Iowa Drug Task Force, the Ames Police Department Emergency Response Team and the Safe Neighborhoods team. He also served as a security officer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Disaster Medical Service.

“Strengthening and protecting neighborhoods has long been a goal of the Ames City Council; however, it falls on the shoulders of people like Sgt. Snider to give meaning to those words,” said Ames Mayor Ann Campbell in a news release issued by the city of Ames. “Howard took that idea to heart. He was a dedicated public servant and an excellent representative of the Ames Police Department.”

Snider is survived by his wife and two children.