She attended Stanford University on scholarships  and graduated in 1954 with a degree in political science and married Dick Snell.

After Dick's two-year stint as a U.S. Infantry Officer in Germany, in 1956 the Snells returned to Dick's hometown of Phoenix. Dinky was well aware of her good fortune and also her knack for bringing people together to get things done, immersing herself in Arizona civic and community affairs for the next 50 years.

As someone who believed that public education was the backbone of a healthy nation, she worked to help make Arizona State University a flagship campus. She was past chair of the Arizona State University Foundation; was on the Dean's Advisory Boards of ASU's College of Education and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; and was a member of the Foundation's Women in Philanthropy program. In 1998 she and Dick co-chaired the ASU Campaign for Leadership, which raised more than half a billion dollars for the university. In 2002, the family endowed the Alice Wiley Snell Professorship of Education to focus on educational policy research, later modifying the position to better support and promote excellence in the area of teaching.

Dinky was Vice Chair of the Board of the state's largest health care system, then known as Samaritan Health Service, and served as Chair of the Medical Center Redevelopment Corporation, which, in conjunction with the City of Phoenix, redeveloped a 100-acre area in central Phoenix. She was also the first female Chair of the Valley of the Sun YMCA as well as the Y's Resource Board; and the Chair of the Governor's Task Force on Juvenile Corrections. In 1980 she and Charlotte Buchen formed a business partnership for delivering public relations and communications services, Buchen Snell & Company. In 1985 she left the partnership and joined the Arizona Department of Education as business-industry liaison to develop job training programs. She was later promoted to Deputy Associate Superintendent in the Vocational Division, resigning in 1989 to run for State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Though she lost her bid, she never regretted the chance she had to tour the state during her campaign, meet its people, and listen to their ideas about how to make Arizona schools better. Dinky was named Phoenix Woman of the Year by the Phoenix Advertising Club in 1989 for her community service work. In 1993 she was named Volunteer of the Year by the Alexis de Tocqueville Society of the Valley of the Sun United Way, and in 2008 was honored as a Historymaker, Philanthropist, and Civic Leader by the Arizona Historical Society. Her powers of persuasion and ability to advance her civic and community agendas were artful, creating the impression that the genesis of the project proposal or innovation had been others' idea and not hers.

In addition to her husband Dick, three daughters, and numerous grandchildren, she is survived by her sons-in-law; beloved sister-in-law; many nieces and nephew; and her two siblings. 

In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the ASU General Scholarship Fund. Memorial plans pending. Condolences may be expressed at www.whitneymurphyfuneralhome.com. Offer Hugs From Home Condolence for the family of SNELL, ALICE COSETTE WILEY