Roger Kent Snodgrass

Roger Kent Snodgrass, November 16, 1944-July 18, 2026

Roger Kent Snodgrass, age 81, died peacefully in his sleep very early on Saturday morning, July 18 with his partner Myra at his side. Roger had been fighting pancreatic cancer for 2 ½ years.

Roger was born in South Dakota in 1944, but grew up in New Mexico, and graduated from Alamogordo High School. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts in English from George Washington University and then studied English Literature for a year at Harvard University.

Roger had a long career as a journalist and film maker. He was the editor of the New Mexico Labor Tribune for several years and ended his newspaper career as the Editor of the Los Alamos Monitor. A colleague at the Monitor, Katy Korkos, wrote this about Roger: “One of the traits that made him able to be such a good reporter, beyond his really beautiful writing, was that he developed friendships and created networks among a wide range of people, so that he always had someone to turn to for a well-reasoned position on any topic.”

Early in his career, Roger worked on slide-show production and served as an assistant cameraman and production assistant. The first films he worked on were political spots for both major parties. As he developed his filmmaking skills, he went out on his own and began writing and producing documentary films.

From 1969 to 1983, while living in Washington DC, he produced and wrote films for the National Gallery of Art, the National Building Museum,and the National Education Association. Later, after he moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, he made films around the world, including The Price of Freedom, filmed in locations from France to the Philippines, and Civilization in Chiapas, filmed in southern Mexico, where he spent several years. His films have won multiple awards, including four CINE Golden Eagles, three Silver Awards from the New York Film and Television Festival, and awards from the Independent Producers Association.

Roger resided in Santa Fe, from 1981 to 2020, where he served as City Arts Commissioner and was a founder of “Friends of the Palace”, a group supporting the Palace of the Governors. In the early2020s, Roger lived with his brother and family in San Jose, California. In 2022, Roger stayed with his dear friends Greg and Tricia Mello while they helped him to plan and make the move to Brookdale Valencia in early 2023.

Roger is survived by his brother KC (Kim} Snodgrass), nieces and nephews, his partner Myra, and many loving friends.

A memorial service for Roger will be held on August 1, 2026 at 1:30 PM in Brookdale Valencia independent living center at 300 Valencia Drive SE, Albuquerque, NM, 87108

Donations can be made to the Los Alamos Study Group, 2901 Summit Place NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106-2028 or to the Let's Win Pancreatic Cancer Foundation, 422 E 72nd Street, Suite 9F, New York, NY 10021