Chris Snow, loving and devoted husband, father, brother, uncle and friend died on September 30, 2023.
He was 42 years old.
Chris was born on August 11, 1981 in Boston, Mass., the firstborn child of Linda and Robert Snow. As a child, Chris was so smiley and talkative that his mother nicknamed him “motormouth” and “guy smiley.”
At a young age, Chris’ passion for the things he loved and his innate curiosity and intelligence were unmatched. He showed a keen interest in and talent for the written word, and he deeply loved sports. His father, a literacy teacher, shared those passions and stopped at nothing to encourage his son’s pursuits. At 14 years old, Chris started writing stories for a small, local newspaper and was thrilled to collect his first paycheck – an unmarked envelope of cash left each week in the family’s mailbox. It was not until years later that Bob revealed he was the source of those paydays. When Chris was in high school, Bob talked Boston University into giving his son a press pass before he could drive a car.
After high school, Chris attended Syracuse University and was an integral part of the Daily Orange student newspaper during his four years there. He spent his summers off from Syracuse working in the sports departments at the Boston Globe and the Los Angeles Times, and shortly after graduating, he was named the Minnesota Wild beat writer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
The following summer, a young sports reporter from a small town in South Dakota found herself interning in the sports department at the Los Angeles Times, where the editor told her that the summer before, their intern, a young man named Chris Snow, had left the paper early for his dream job covering hockey.
One year later, that same young woman sat in the office of the Boston Globe sports editor, interviewing for another summer job. The editor explained that the paper had recently hired some young reporters, one being Chris Snow.
“This guy,” she thought, “is everywhere I go.”
Little did she know.
That summer, Chris was a 23-year-old phenom back in his hometown, covering the Boston Red Sox for the Globe, and Kelsie was there as 21-year-old intern. The two met shortly after Kelsie arrived, and as they sat across from each other at a crowded pub in Allston, Mass., it took Kelsie about 10 minutes to fall in love with Chris’ magnetic smile and the way his blue eyes sparkled when he threw his head back and laughed. They shared a taxi ride home with friends that night and when their knees touched in the backseat, Kelsie knew she was a goner.
The two fell quickly in love and have stayed there for 18 years.
In 2006, the Minnesota Wild offered Chris a job to be their director of hockey operations. It was an opportunity most reporters only dream about – working for a team instead of writing about one – and after much contemplation, Chris left journalism behind for a chance to work in the sport he loved most.
That summer, Chris and Kelsie got engaged and she joined him in Minnesota. For five years, the couple stayed in St. Paul, where they were married, while Chris worked for the Wild and Kelsie covered the Minnesota Twins for the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
In the summer of 2011, the Calgary Flames made Chris their director of video and statistical analysis, and the couple moved to Alberta with their 5-week-old son, Cohen. Over the next 12 years, Calgary and Canada became home for the Snows. They welcomed their daughter, Willa, in 2014, and their family felt complete.
Then, in June 2019, Chris was diagnosed with ALS and given 6-12 months to live, less than a year after his father had died of the same disease. While most ALS is sporadic, 10-15 percent is genetic, and that genetic ALS is the kind that had killed Chris’ father, two uncles and a cousin.
But Chris’ story would be different. Unlike his family members, Chris had the chance to join a promising clinical trial, and one month after diagnosis, he started receiving a medication that changed the trajectory of his life. It gave his family four years together instead of one.
When Chris was diagnosed, he asked the doctor, “What should I do next?”
The doctor told him, “Do what brings you joy.”
And that is exactly what Chris did.
He coached Cohen and Willa in hockey and baseball. He took his family on adventures both epic and simple. At his family’s beloved Merrymeeting Lake, he jumped off the dock and swam with his kids and drove the boat and soaked in every New Hampshire sunset. He went for bike rides and played catch and mowed the lawn. He reveled in the ordinary and rested in the comfort of knowing his bucket list contained one thing – spending every moment he could with the people he loved.
The Snows chose to live out their life with ALS – the pain and the joy, the heartbreak and the laughter – in the public eye so people could see the devastation of a disease that many look away from, raising awareness and more than $575,000 for ALS research.
ALS took away Chris’ use of his hands and his arms and stripped him of his brilliant smile. He lost his booming laugh and his ability to speak, eat and drink. But he never complained. He never faded away. He never hid. He worked full-time until his death as an integral part of the Calgary Flames front office, and he shared his story and his vulnerability with the world, inspiring legions with his example of how to live while you are dying.
Chris was never afraid to suffer. He was never afraid to die. He was only afraid of leaving Kelsie, Cohen and Willa. He only ever worried about them, and so he wove for them a strong web of beautiful people who loved him and, in his absence, will love his family.
Chris’ courage, his determination to see the beauty in life and his unwavering optimism were beacons to everyone when all hope seemed lost. Those who love him walk forward now with his light guiding the way.
Chris is survived by his wife Kelsie (Smith), children Cohen and Willa, sister Colleen Snow and her children Kailyn and Jackson, and godmother Linda Skidmore and her husband John.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Linda and Robert Snow, grandmothers Ruth Simberlund and Rita Snow-Duddy, uncles Bradley and David Snow and cousin Matthew Snow.
Please join us in honoring Chris’ life and legacy at 2 p.m. on October 12 at Saint Michael Catholic Community in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. For those who cannot attend in person, the service will be live-streamed at https://www.youtube.com/c/StMichaelCatholicCommunity
In lieu of flowers, please donate to ALS research at https://www.nhl.com/flames/fans/snowystrong.
Share your memories of Chris with Kelsie, Cohen and Willa by sending cards to The Snow Family, 555 Saddledome Rise SE, Calgary, AB, Canada T2G 2W1 or by emailing [email protected].
