Ryan Jeffrey Snodgrass

Divisions Served: “F,” “V,” “G,” “L”

Pillar Location: Pillar VII, Row 1, Column F

Story: 

I recall while growing up in Hanley, Sask, we lived in a house attached to the police station.  One night a friend wanted to have a sleep-over.  This particular night there happened to be an intoxicated individual in cells pretending he was a plane crashing in the walls.  It didn’t take long for my friend to realize he no longer wanted to have a sleep-over as he ran out of the house as fast as he could.  It was no surprise to me that I had no future requests for sleep-overs!

Obviously, even with stories like this, growing up in an RCMP family didn’t bother me as in 2003 I joined myself.  One of the first things I told my mother is that even though I was in the RCMP, knowing that we move around, I wanted to try and avoid moving around too much.  Well 16 years later, I have moved 10 times!

I started in Biggar, Sask and after two quick years I followed in my parent’s footsteps applying to work in the North, specifically in Nunavut.  I was posted to Kugaaruk where I met my future wife, Jennifer, who was nursing in the community at the time.  I returned to work in Swift Current, Sask (the same Detachment where my father served before me), but the North continued to appeal to me and after a short year I applied to return, this time to the NWT.  In the NWT I was posted to Ulukhaktok, Yellowknife, Norman Wells, Behchoko, Fort Smith and Yellowknife a second time.

Jennifer and I had two children while in the NWT and in 2019 we left the North for Charlottetown, PEI where I continue to work with the RCMP.

My time with the RCMP has afforded me great opportunities and countless experiences I’ll never forget.  One of the most memorable is when I was posted to Norman Wells, NWT as the Detachment Commander, similar to my father when he did the same thing in 1973.  At the time I was there, they were awarding the wives of members who served in one-member detachments with a “Second-man Brooch”.  My parents were visiting us in Norman Wells and I was able to make arrangements to have the brooch sent to me.  During their visit, I was able to hold an informal awards ceremony presenting the brooch to my mother, in the exact community where she was considered the ‘second-man’!