A Lifetime of Service
Steve Snowden has always been a fighter for those he loves and his country. Snowden followed in his father’s footsteps and went to Officer Candidates School for the United States Marine Corps at age 23. He spent the next three decades serving in war zones and hot spots all over the world.
“It was just an exciting career,” Snowden said. “The Marines are different. We’re a little bit crazy, but that is what makes us Marines. It’s a very competitive service, and if you want to have any success in the Marines, you better be good. They don’t like slouches. You better work your fanny off if you want any success in the Marines.”
The decorated Marine’s courage and fighting spirit would again serve him well in his late 70s, when Snowden’s heart started to fail him after a bad case of COVID. He and his wife, Barbara, had moved to South Jordan, Utah, from Ohio in 2017. By 2023, Snowden was working with the heart failure team at 鶹ѧƷ.
When the Heart Fails, the Fight Continues
“I was taking more and more heart medications, and my heart failure team said, ‘We need to look at your health down the road because you are in the hospital all the time and your heart is not looking good,’” Snowden said. His doctors counseled him that, at age 81, he was too old to get a heart transplant.
By Fall 2024, it was time for Snowden and his family to make some tough decisions as his heart continued to rapidly deteriorate. The team at U of U Health offered him two options: continue taking a mix of medications and go to hospice, or have surgery to implant a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) inside his heart.
At first, Snowden was reluctant to go through with the surgery. But his family convinced him it was worth taking a chance on the procedure.
“My wife Barbara and one of my sons-in-law who is a doctor told me, ‘Steve, you have a better chance of living longer with an LVAD than if they just send you home on medication,’”
Craig Selzman, MD, chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at U of U Health, thought Snowden was a good candidate for the LVAD. In late November 2024, Selzman performed the operation to implant the mechanical heart pump in Snowden.
“One of the important things we use as a gauge of LVAD surgery success in our older patients is whether they can fight through it,” Selzman said. “Because the surgery is not easy.” And neither are the early stages of recovery.
“I think my military experience has helped me a lot over the past year because there were a lot of challenges while I was a Marine,” Snowden said. “It’s not an easy service to be in, but you just decide, ‘I am going to do the things I need to do, and we will see, come what may.’ I must carry around this LVAD pack 24 hours a day, and it can be an inconvenience, but I’m alive.”
Recovery, Resilience, and Renewed Purpose
Fighting through difficult physical and emotional challenges is nothing new for the decorated Marine. Just before he arrived in Vietnam, two friends—young lieutenants who went through officer training with Snowden—were killed. A couple months later, Snowden and his unit came under fire.
“Someone sent an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) round at us, and I don’t know exactly what happened because I don’t remember,” Snowden said. “It exploded near my head, and I had a lot of shrapnel in my head and in my back. But I was only in the hospital a few days and I wanted to get back to my unit and serve out my time.”
The Marines recognized Snowden’s bravery under fire with a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for his service in Vietnam. Snowden’s reluctance to talk about those medals is just one more sign of his strength and character. These are the same qualities he has used to survive and thrive after heart surgery.
“When you are 81 years old and going through something like this, we really need to make sure the patient has the fight in them,” Selzman said. “I think I probably just mentioned to Steve that he has a lot of things to live for, and we wanted to help him” live longer and improve his quality of life.
Snowden has plenty to live for, including his wife of 62 years, eight children (two boys and six girls), 31 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. One of his grandsons, Mason Wells, is serving in the United States Navy, which makes Snowden very proud.
Wells was badly burned in the March 22, 2016, terrorist bombings at the airport in Brussels, Belgium. At the time, he was a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After a half-dozen surgeries, Wells went on to graduate from the United States Naval Academy and serve his country, just like his grandfather.
Steve Busch, LVAD coordinator with U of U Health, has been working with Snowden since before his surgery. He is amazed by the former Marine’s attitude toward his recovery.
“Steve Snowden is one of the most determined and strong-willed men I have ever seen—and in a good way,” Busch said. “As LVAD coordinators, we know that the road to recovery can be a little bit bumpy, and with a man in his 80s, we were a little worried. But Steve’s been incredibly resilient, and he wanted to get back to life as quick as possible.”
According to Snowden, the physical recovery has been less challenging than the emotional one. “In my whole life, being a Marine, I have felt tough,” he said. “You can’t do anything to hurt or scare me. I knew that physically I could probably take this open-heart surgery. But what I discovered is the tough emotional part. You are used to doing everything yourself, but after the LVAD surgery, I don’t have the energy or strength to do everything I used to do.”
Still, with each milestone he achieves, Snowden feels a little stronger physically and emotionally, and he has a lot to celebrate this November 2025 with his wife, his family, and fellow veterans. On November 10, the 250th birthday of the Marine Corps, Snowden will celebrate his 82nd birthday and then observe Veterans Day on November 11.
“The heroes in my life are those who gave up their lives,” Snowden said. “They sacrificed their lives. They have done so much for our country. I was just lucky enough to stay in the Marine Corps as long as I did.”
On November 20, Snowden will undergo what he describes as his “huge” one-year check-up, and he is hoping the results will be positive. Snowden has complete confidence in the “outstanding and phenomenal” team he has worked with at U of U Health.
And Snowden now knows he has more life to live. “I’m hopeful that I have some more time left,” he said. “I hope that my body is going to be strong enough. I know that my LVAD has an outstanding reputation, so I hope that it will continue to function well. I think I made the right decision because I am alive.”
