Ralph Waldo Snyder was born in Washington on August 9, 1893 and grew up in Spokane, Washington working in the family's general store. He attended Lewis and Clark High School, where he met his wife Aimee, and then Whitman College where he graduated from in 1915. After graduation, he began renting a small ranch, which would eventually become the Bar U Ranch, his long-term home. The couple had four children, R. William, Emily, Frances, and Stephanie. Stephanie also attended Whitman College and she and her husband Richard A. Coon returned to the ranch to run the corporation. Ralph was named the Washington State Cattleman of the Year in 1955. He died on March 25, 1975.