Family Affair

Kimberly Snyder has fond memories of growing up in a National Guard family.

“The military was just a big part of our lives,” said the daughter of retired Michigan Army Guard Brig. Gen. Robert Taylor, the NGAUS chairman of the board from 2004 to 2006. One of the things that jumps out at me was the discipline, the structure. I feel like there was just routine consistency in our house.

“And then my dad was always really, really big on current events,” she recalled. “I remember growing up as a child having those conversations at dinner every night about what was happening in the world. A lot of it was centered around military events.”

It was actually a two-generation Guard family. Taylor followed in the footsteps of his father, who also was a full-time Guard officer who rose to the rank of brigadier general in the Michigan Army Guard.

“My parents and grandparents taught me you do what you said you were going to do,” said Snyder, who now lives in Sarasota, Florida. “There’s a way to do things. You follow instructions, but you could still be a leader. It instilled a lot of confidence in me, which gave me the courage to go to college in Florida when I was 17.”

She graduated from the University of Florida in 1994 and has been a wealth advisor for more than 30 years.

Snyder and her sister, Lisa Thompson, who lives in Commerce Township, Michigan, recently honored their parents with a $10,000 donation to the National Guard Educational Foundation.

It’s something that we knew is near and dear to my dad’s heart.

—Kimberly Snyder, daughter of Brig. Gen. Robert Taylor (Ret.), a former NGAUS chairman

“It’s something that we knew is near and dear to my dad’s heart,” Snyder said, adding that he has made multiple large contributions to the foundation. “It was also a chance for us to honor our mom [the late Cindy Taylor] who we lost in 2023. Both were committed to the National Guard, and we were beneficiaries of that.”

The gift was one of 13 the NGEF recognized March 21 during a special reception at the National Guard Memorial, the NGAUS headquarters in Washington, D.C. The honorees contributed a total of $150,000 to the foundation through its Legion de Lafayette program, which is reserved for gifts of $10,000 or more. The NGEF preserves and shares all 390 years of the Guard story. Among its programs is the National Guard Memorial Museum, which includes 5,600 square feet of artifacts, images and interactive exhibits.

Many of the donations honored were made by family members of Guard officers, couples or by Guard officers in the name of family members.

For example, retired Maj. Gen. James “Red” and Jane Brown of Texas were honored for their third LdL gift, made, they said, in the name of their daughter, retired Lt. Col. Crystal Rolleg, a former medical services officer with the 36th Infantry Division. Brown once commanded the division.

In addition, Linda Cooper Ross of Louisiana added to a previous LdL contribution. Her husband, retired Brig. Gen. Ken Ross, is the longtime NGAUS treasurer and an LdL member. Their daughter, Dixie, a onetime association employee, also made a $10,000 donation.

“Coming from a military family, I knew service in the military wasn’t right for me,” Dixie said. “However, my time at NGAUS showed me the power of legislative advocacy, which I continue to pursue, and the ins and outs of the military. When I saw the struggles some military families face simply to access their health and school benefits, I worked passionately with them to secure the resources they’d been promised.

“I still take immense pride in being on the team that advocated for Empowerment II [in 2011], bringing the National Guard to the table when many members were actively deployed overseas,” she added.

Other individual or family contributors honored also said they were just “giving back.”

“The Guard opened my eyes to a broader world and provided experiences and relationships that have shaped my life in lasting ways,” said retired Minnesota Army Guard Maj. Chris Kline, who donated with his wife, Korrie. It was their first LdL donation.

Retired Maryland Air Guard Maj. Gen. April and retired Arkansas Air Guard Brig. Gen. Kurt Vogel had the same motivation. “Giving back and staying connected isn’t just meaningful to us, it’s our way of honoring what the Guard has given our family,” they said.

April is the retired/separated-Air representative on the NGAUS board of directors. It was also the Vogel’s first LdL gift.

Retired Oregon Army Guard Brig. Gen. Douglas Pritt expressed similar sentiments for his first major donation. “The opportunities I have been given have far exceeded anything I could have imagined when I first raised my hand to join,” he said.

Five corporations were recognized for adding to previous gifts: BAE Systems, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, New York Life, Shepard Exposition Services and USAA. The National Guard Association of Texas made its first LdL donation. 

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PHOTO ABOVE
(Photo by Paul Gillis)

Top Row (from left) Col. Lee Winningham (Ret.), General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.; Maj. Gen. James “Red” Brown (Ret.), Texas Army National Guard; Maj. Gen. April Vogel (Ret.), NGAUS Board of Directors; Brig. Gen. Kurt Vogel (Ret.), Arkansas Air National Guard; Michael Graham, National Sales Manager, Shepard Exposition Services

Middle Row (from left) Brig. Gen. Keith Klemmer (Ret.), Business Development Director, BAE Systems; Brig. Gen. Douglas Pritt, Oregon Army National Guard; Robert Warren, Military Affinity Development  & Management, USAA; Lisa Thompson; Linda Cooper Ross; Dixie lee Ross; Kimberly Snyder

Front Row (from left) Angela Matthews, President-elect, National Guard Association of Texas; Jolene Howell, New York Life; Maj. Gen. Francis M. McGinn (Ret.), President, NGAUS & NGEF; Korrie Kline; Maj. Christopher Kline (Ret.), Minnesota Air National Guard