Alice Snater wasn’t going to sit around and wait for someone else to fix a problem. The quiet woman surprised many people with how strong-willed she could be about the world’s injustices.

“Alice was a kindly woman, but also a bull dog,” said Mower County Correctional Services Director Steve King, a longtime colleague. “She would work herself to the bone for what’s right for children.”

Alice passed away June 17, 2015, at age 78. One of Alice’s passions was working for the courts in Mower County as a guardian ad litem, starting in 1989 and advocating for children for more than 25 years.

King described Alice as a doer who accomplished a lot during her life, only retiring in June of 2014. King recalled she tried to slow down before she retired due to health reasons, but she wasn’t capable of slowing down — she was dedicated to working for those who were underserved or not served at all.

“You could see it in her face, that was her passion,” King said of her work as a guardian.

Alice’s daughter Kirsten Snater said her mother’s supervisor told her Alice loved working with all the children, but she enjoyed babies the most, and she had a very strong passion to protect them.

“Those were really important to her, and maybe that stems from having lost an infant son,” Kirsten said.

Alice’s daughter Theresa Iverson said she and her five siblings likely helped prepare their mother for the job as a guardian through the many tests and trials they put their parents through growing up. She said her mother could always tell when she was being lied to and she wouldn’t back off. Knowing how tough a mom she was, Iverson said she was just as tough to the children under her care.

According to King, Alice never needed recognition for her work — she had a big heart and was willing to work for others. He said it was a big loss when she retired, and is now a bigger loss that she is gone.

Dedicated to Austin

Along with her work as a guardian, Alice was involved with many things in the Austin community, serving on several boards and commissions including Sacred Heart Care Center, the Audit Committee for Mower County Catholic Parishes Credit Union, Austin Human Rights Commission, Civil Service Police Commission and Austin City Council. Alice was a member of Queen of Angels and later St. Augustine Catholic Church.

She also served as a citizen volunteer for the city of Austin in the flood relocation projects from 1978 to 2004. Alice was a cofounder of the FACTS (Flood Action Citizens Task Source), which lobbied local, state and federal agencies for flood mitigation projects. She was a collaborative team member for the Parents Forever Program, a consortium team member for the Seibel Family Visitation and Exchange Center and a volunteer at Sacred Heart Care Center.

In addition, Alice was a Eucharistic Minister distributing to residents at the Cedars and Sacred Heart Care Center, and during Mass at St. Augustine Catholic Church. Alice was employed at the Christian Education Center for seven years and assisted staff in relocating a refugee family from Vietnam. She also worked with Austin Catholic Schools for 23 years in the administration office.

“She was a powerful member of the Austin community for her whole adult life,” good friend and former pastor Father Paul Nelson said.

Nelson knew and worked with Alice for about 40 years, and he said she was always very quiet and unassuming, but very capable. He remembered how active she was in her church, leading many groups.

“She could inspire people, and she did,” Nelson said.

Alice’s faith got her through many tough times and was one foundation for all the social justice work she did.

“With her faith, it never wavered,” Iverson said. “She never blamed God for any hardships. If anything it was a test to see how she would overcome the struggle or the difficulties she was going through.”

She was a devout Catholic all her life, which showed through her volunteerism and how she helped others.

“She lived it,” Kirsten said. “She not only read her Bible and her daily devotion, but she lived it.”

She also volunteered and at Sacred Heart and King, a trustee at Pacelli, called her a leader at St. Augustine’s Church.

“Catholicism and her Catholic faith was very important, and it showed through her volunteerism and how she helped children,” King said.

Kirsten remembered a conversation she had with her mother after Alice’s husband, Orville, passed away in 2009. She told Alice to try going to mass once or twice a week, instead of just Sunday, which helped her a lot in the healing process.

“She just was one of those people,” Nelson said. “I’ve been a priest for 55 years, and she’s one of the very few people who deeply inspired me, and I saw her inspire countless dozens of others over and over again, and I’m going to miss that.”

Sparking flood efforts

Alice was also one of the sparks for the city’s flood mitigation efforts. Alice and Orville lived in the flood plain for several years, and after getting flooded twice in 1978 along with many other homes, the Snaters decided to do something about the issue.

“They were just two citizens who were sick of being flooded and approached the city as a citizen,” King said.

Alice and Orville helped form the Flood Action Citizens Task Source to help solve the flooding issue, according to a Federal Emergency Management Agency article. The Snaters home was relocated out of the flooding area, and many homes and families were also relocated.

Alice also loved being outside, spending time with her animals and writing. After she passed away, her children found many essays she wrote about different trips she had taken, and genealogy information on her family. Iverson and Kirsten said they lost one of their best friends when their mother passed away, as she was a great listener and gave good advice. Alice’s son Mark Snater wrote in an email of his mother’s great sense of humor and quick wit.

“She was my crusader, she never gave up, she believed in me and supported me and believed something good would have to come of this,” Mark wrote. “Mom was understanding, had empathy, sincerity, sympathy and was consoling.”

Her son Mike Snater recalled her desire to please others. He remembered asking for a specific meal every birthday and what a fantastic cook his mother was, especially with potato salad.

Alice’s legacy will live on through her children, her many works and the many children she helped in her 25 years of service at the courts.

“There’s a lot of little kids out there who do not know what she did for them,” Iverson said. “And I hope someday they ask somebody, ‘Who got me out of that mess?’ And they’ll be able to say, ‘Alice Snater did.’”