PROVO — Friends and colleagues hailed the life of former Brigham Young University and University of Utah vice president R.J. Snow, who died Tuesday night in a car accident near his Provo home.
Reuben Joseph Snow was 68 and preparing to teach his final term as a political science professor this summer before retiring. He held critical positions responsible for sports and student life and played a major role in the political science departments at BYU and the U. Since 2005, Snow had been a member of the Board of Trustees at Dixie State College, where he was a former student.
"Three Utah institutions of higher learning are mourning a great leader," BYU President Cecil Samuelson said. "R.J. changed the lives of generations of students, both in the classroom and through his thoughtful decisions as an administrator . . . He has been a personal friend and colleague for over 30 years with whom I was privileged to serve in both the church and the academy."
At 5:31 p.m. Tuesday, Snow was driving eastbound on 2230 North just before the intersection with Canyon Road when his 1996 Jeep Cherokee suddenly veered left across westbound traffic, Provo Police Capt. Rick Healey said. The vehicle went over the curb and sidewalk and struck a 3-foot high concrete retaining wall without any evidence of braking.
"We're checking to see if there was some medical reason why he lost control of the vehicle," Healey said.
Snow is survived by his wife Marilyn, four children and five grandchildren. A memorial service will be held Monday in Provo. The location and time have not been determined.
Snow worked at the U. for a dozen years, including a decade spent as both vice president for student and university relations and director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics.
U. President Michael Young said Snow's influence is felt on the hill more than 20 years after he left.
"It's a gloomy day up here at the university," Young said. "It is a sad day. His legacy is deep and pervasive. He will forever be remembered as an extraordinary man of this university."
Snow joined the U. as a staff assistant to then-President David P. Gardner, who had worked with Snow at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Gardner remembered him as remarkable and humble.
"R.J. Snow is not a replaceable part of my life," Gardner said. "Too many shared memories and moments during good and hard times laboring in behalf of the universities we served together. He was not only a double cousin but also a dear friend and close colleague over 40 years. In 1995, he married Sheila and me at our home in Park City. His loss is heavy to bear."
J.D. Williams, founding director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics, said Snow strengthened the institute while overseeing "an unbelievable array of major university offices."
"I so admired him as a student, treasured him as a colleague and stood in awe of his qualities as a husband to Marilyn and father to four magnificent children," Williams said. "If one wants to know why teaching has been a great career, it's because I knew R.J. Snow. I could not have asked for better."
Snow left the U. in 1985 and worked for three years as president and director of the Jacobsen Construction Company.
After he served as a mission president in Johannesburg, South Africa, for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1987-90, he was appointed BYU's vice president of student life.
He later became advancement vice president at BYU before leaving campus to serve as the director of the Jerusalem Center until July 2000.
Snow returned to BYU to teach political science but also took time out to serve as public relations director for the church's Nauvoo Restoration Inc., during the approval process, construction and dedication of its temple in Nauvoo, Ill., and as the faculty adviser for BYU's Washington Seminar program during the 2004 election year.
Snow's university and church positions were evidence of his ability to handle difficult situations and "get things done in a peaceful and harmonious way," said Ted Wilson, who followed Snow as director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics.
"Every time the Mormon Church had a sticky assignment, they'd send R.J. Snow," Wilson said. "It's a really big loss to the community."
Utah Democratic Party Chairman Wayne Holland called Snow a state treasure.
"R.J. had the unique ability to make contact and have a positive effect on the lives of his students, his missionaries and his colleagues," Holland said. "He had an indefinable quality that encouraged both friends and acquaintances to higher and higher levels of achievement."
Snow also served on the board of directors for the Deseret Morning News during a challenging period for the newspaper in the mid-to-late '90s, board Chairman Ellis Ivory said.
"Every place R.J. served, he provided a unique contribution," Ivory said. "He was one of the brightest, most thoughtful men I've known. He had that great blend of being so smart and so insightful and yet so nice that he made friends every place he went."
His influence on sports at BYU and the U. will also be remembered.
"The renaissance of the U.'s athletic department started when R.J. became vice president over athletics," former U. athletic director Arnie Ferrin said. "Over the years there was a dramatic change in the philosophy of athletics at the U., and R.J. is the one who was the genesis for it."
Snow served an LDS mission in France and earned bachelor's and master's degrees at the U. He earned a master's and doctoral degree at Northwestern University and did postdoctoral work at the University of Oregon and at Harvard.
Contributing: Erin Stewart
E-mail: twalch@desnews.com