One Woman’s Vision
November 16, 2024
With a pioneering spirit and a devotion to young people, the Snow-Redfern Foundation is a fitting reflection of our namesake and founder.
Arvilla Snow-Redfern…Her Story
The Snow-Redfern Foundation started with one woman’s vision and grew into a network of support for all those making a difference in the lives of children. Take a look back at some of the highlights from our first 70 years.
She lived the hard yet rewarding life of a Sandhills rancher, overcame a pair of defining personal tragedies, and left an inspired legacy of caring for children in need.
Arvilla Snow-Redfern’s grandparents, Charles and Alice D. Snow, arrived in Alliance, Nebraska in 1894. They homesteaded in nearby Morrill County in 1902 and began purchasing adjacent land. Over time, the original Snow Ranch grew to over 20,000 acres.
Charles and Alice’s son Jason and his wife Alice raised three children on the ranch – Charles, Chester, and Arvilla. Charles moved to town and Chester struck out for Alaska, where he became a prominent political figure. Arvilla, who shared her grandfather and father’s passion for the ranch, stayed on.
Ranch life has a way of making people resilient, but a pair of personal tragedies would further test Arvilla’s strength – and plant the seed for what became her legacy.
In 1920, Arvilla married (Charles) Montgomery Redfern. The couple soon conceived, but tragically, Mr. Redfern died before their son, Monte, was born in 1921. Suddenly, Arvilla faced working the ranch as a widowed single mother.
She home-schooled Monte from a young age and wanted him to have a more formal education. In time, she sent him to the Junior Military Academy in Bloomington Springs, Tennessee, for 5 years.
While visiting home after graduation, Monte was riding his favorite pony. The horse reared up, and the saddle horn pierced Monte’s leg, mortally wounding him. He died on July 10, 1935, just short of his 14th birthday.
Arvilla was heartbroken. She had dedicated her life to raising her son, and she longed to find a way to continue caring for children in his memory. She tried opening two different educational institutions before turning her attention to fostering children.
While caring for as many as 14 children, Arvilla began to envision a way that she could help more children in need—for the rest of her life and beyond. She knew she would need the help of people she could trust, and she began cultivating a group of friends and advisors from the Alliance community.
In 1951, the Snow-Redfern Memorial Foundation was incorporated, and Arvilla’s dream became reality.
“So, I commend to the community in the broadest sense, the Snow-Redfern Memorial Foundation. To anyone anywhere who loves to lend a hand I say, may you work hand in hand to the glory and honor of the One and Only Source of us all and thus give an answer through actions to the great question—who is my neighbor?” – Yours with Love and Good Will, Arvilla Snow-Redfern