Snow, Wilfred Curtis (1894-1935). Papers, 1929-1963.

W. Curtis Snow was born in Norwich, Massachusetts, on September 25, 1894, to Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Snow. Snow was always interested in the church and received a position of assistant organist of Grace Episcopal Church in Lawrence, Massachusetts, at the age of 15. He studied under Dudley Warner Fitch and Albert W. Snow in Boston, Massachusetts. This led him to the Midwest where he took a position of organist and choir-master in St. Thomas Church, Sioux City, Iowa. He kept this position for nine years until he was offered a faculty position at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1922. While at Morningside, he was an instructor in organ at the Conservatory of Music. In addition to his work at the college, he also was an organist and choir director at the First Presbyterian Church in Sioux City. He was deeply interested in Masonic work in Sioux City through the Landmark Lodge, the Sioux City Consistory, and Abu-Bekr Temple of the Shrine. Snow was a 32nd degree Mason.

While in Sioux City, Snow met and married Esther Mac Farlane of Sioux City, Iowa, in 1922. Together they had four children: Murray, Robert, Jean, and Janet.

In 1929, Snow left Morningside College to become a professor of music at Hope College. He taught at Hope College until his death. While at the college, he was an instructor in organ and music classes. In 1931, he was elected Professor of organ and piano. Snow devoted most of his time and ability to the musical interests of the college and the community. His desire was to promote an appreciation of the best types of music upon the campus. He helped to organize the Hope College chapel choir, the student choir at Hope Church, and the Holland Civic Chorus. Snow directed the Holland Civic Chorus in the first performance of Handel's "Messiah" on Hope's campus. While teaching at Hope College, Snow was an active member of the local Century Club.

Snow believed in giving everything his all, and church music was his passion and his sacred joy. He was working on his master's degree at the University of Michigan School of Music and was expected to finish in spring, 1936 when he passed away. W. Curtis Snow died on December 31, 1935, at Simpson Memorial Institute in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He died in a coma of anemia, pneumonia and complications of an attack of influenza that arose early in the fall of 1935. Funeral services were held at Hope College's Dimnent Chapel on January 7, 1936.

In honor of W. Curtis Snow, the Hope College Board of Trustees named Snow Auditorium, located in the Nykerk Hall of Music, after him. A portrait of Mr. Snow is hung in the lobby of the auditorium.