Roy H. Snider never attended Catawba College, but his wife, Sarah Brown Snider ’51, did. Although the couple spent most of their working years in Delray Beach, Florida, the last several decades of their lives were spent in Salisbury where the two reconnected with Sarah’s alma mater.
While in Florida, Sarah worked until her retirement for Seacrest Petroleum Company, a Division of Gulf Oil Corporation in Boynton, at the company owned and operated by her husband. When they moved to Salisbury, Roy’s hometown, the Sniders attended events at Catawba and made modest annual contributions to the college’s Annual Fund. They were “steady supporters of Catawba,” Catawba’s Vice President of Development Rex Otey explained.
Sarah died on October 26, 2012 and husband Roy survived her for only a year, passing on October 26, 2013. Catawba had no idea that the college would be remembered in his estate as a beneficiary. But Roy Snider had indeed “remembered” Catawba, leaving the institution gifts totaling $924,552.
“What a wonderful surprise to learn Catawba was included in the Snider estate,” Otey explained, noting that often the college is unaware that alumni and friends have made provisions that include the institution as a beneficiary in their estate plans.
“Some let us know in advance that they have made plans for Catawba after they pass, but still others hold that information close, and the facts only become known when they are deceased. It makes us realize that we just don’t know how often Catawba truly impacts lives. I think the gift that Roy Snider made to Catawba tells that story in a very understated way.”
Otey explained that Snider’s gift to the College was unrestricted and could be used to address the most urgent or critical needs of the institution. “Unrestricted dollars are the most difficult dollars to raise, so the Snider gift was a great blessing to Catawba,” he concluded.
Estate or planned gifts made to Catawba to date during the course of its comprehensive campaign total $1,912,392 and the Snider gift is included in that number.
For information concerning how you can make plans to include Catawba in your estate, contact Senior Development Associate Randy Southard ’74 at (704) 640-3737 or via e-mail at jsouthar@catawba.edu.
