Tunnel to Towers Foundation Keeps Its Promise, Raising Funds to Pay Off Mortgage of Slain Delaware State Trooper

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE [December 31, 2025] — Thanks to an overwhelming wave of generosity this week, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation is honored to announce it has raised the funds to pay off the mortgage in full on the home of fallen Delaware State Trooper Corporal Matthew “Ty” Snook, ensuring lasting security for his wife and young daughter.

Tunnel to Towers Chairman and CEO Frank Siller traveled to Delaware to personally meet with Corporal Snook’s widow, Lauren Snook, to share the news. During the visit, Siller spent time with Lauren, the couple’s one-year-old daughter, Letty, as well as Corporal Snook’s family and fellow officers.

Lauren reflected on her husband’s remarkable life, his love for nature, and his passion for wrestling, which led him from a 2009 Delaware state championship at Saint Mark’s High School to competing with the University of Maryland Terrapins wrestling team.

At a candlelight vigil held Monday in Hockessin, Lauren addressed the community, saying, “He lived his life with integrity and heart, and that is how we choose to remember him.”

She also spoke candidly about the challenges ahead, sharing her uncertainty about managing finances, maintaining their home, and raising their daughter. That uncertainty is exactly why the Tunnel to Towers Foundation exists.

“Tunnel to Towers made a promise to the Snook family to have their mortgage paid by the New Year, and with the generous support of Americans nationwide, we will keep it. Paying off the family’s mortgage ensures her home will always be hers, bringing lasting peace of mind,” said Siller.

Lauren has also received support from Louise Cummings, the widow of Delaware State Trooper Stephen Ballard, who was killed in the line of duty in 2017 and whose mortgage was paid off by Tunnel to Towers. Cummings reached out to let Lauren know she is always available to talk, another example of the lifelong community Tunnel to Towers builds among Gold Star and fallen first responder families.

The Snook family’s mortgage payoff is the first of 343 mortgage-free homes the Tunnel to Towers Foundation will deliver in 2026, in tribute to the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, and the 343 members of the New York City Fire Department lost that day.

These 343 homes will be provided through the Foundation’s Fallen First Responder Home Program for the families of those who died in the line of duty, the Smart Home Program for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders, and the Gold Star Family Home Program for the families of fallen military heroes. Each home represents a life lost, a family honored, and a promise kept.

“Corporal Snook’s final act was not to seek safety for himself, but to get a stranger out of harm’s way. The Tunnel to Towers Foundation is honored to stand with the family he leaves behind and ensure that his courage, selflessness, and bravery will never be forgotten,” said Frank Siller, Chairman and CEO of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. 

Go to T2T.org to join Tunnel to Towers’ mission to pay off the mortgage on Corporal Snook’s home by New Year’s Day.