Denis (Dee) Murphy, 83, on Sept. 6. Murphy covered every level of hockey in his home province of Newfoundland for 50 years. He was a sports editor and writer with the Daily News, the Newfoundland Herald and the Telegram, a TV color commentator with CJON (NTV) and Cable Atlantic, and a sports announcer on CJON radio. Spending his entire life working and volunteering for sport, Murphy was inducted into numerous halls of fame including the Canadian, Provincial and St. John’s Softball Halls of Fame, Newfoundland and Labrador Sports Hall of Fame, Provincial Hockey Hall of Fame, Royal St. John’s Regatta Hall of Fame, Provincial Bowling Hall of Fame, Athletics Hall of Fame, Bell Island Sports Hall of Fame, and the Provincial Soccer Hall of Fame. He played an important role in the establishment of intermediate hockey in NL. He was the first chairman of the St. John’s Minor Hockey Association, and served as president of the St. John’s Mercantile Hockey League for 16 years. He also chaired the St. John’s Athlete of the Year Committee for 29 years, coached ladies’ softball and soccer teams for 25 years, and served on the National Advisory Council for Fitness and Amateur Sport. As a goalkeeper, he played St. John’s High School, junior and senior hockey and was a member of the St. Bon’s team that won the 1955-1956 St. John’s Junior Hockey Championship.
Lise Payette, 87, on Sept. 5. Born in Verdun, Quebec, Payette started her broadcasting career at CKTR-AM Trois-Rivières in 1954. She held various jobs, including editor of the weekly Frontier Rouyn-Noranda and host of the show “La Femme dans le monde” on CKRN-DT (branded on-air as Radio-Canada Télévision CKRN) Rouyn-Noranda. She later lived in Paris and wrote for Petit Journal at the Patrie, New Journal and Châtelaine. Upon her return to Montreal, she worked on TV program “Interdit aux hommes” for Radio-Canada and on a series of animated television programs for the CBC French and English networks. From 1972-75, Payette was host of TV series “Appelez-moi Lise” (Call Me Lise) and “Lise Lib.” She entered provincial politics in 1976, representing the now-defunct riding of Dorion for the Parti Quebecois under Rene Levesque. Her portfolios included Minister for Consumer Affairs, Cooperatives and Financial Institutions; Minister of State for the Status of Women; and Minister of State for Social Development. Among Payette’s accomplishments during her time in office was getting the phrase “Je me souviens” (“I remember”) on Quebec license plates. She was also instrumental in founding Quebec public auto insurer SAAQ, and updates to the Civil Code of Quebec, allowing married women to keep their maiden names. Payette left political life in 1981 and returned to television, founding production company Focus, and writing and producing several documentary and fiction series.
Gerald (Jerry) MacLeod, 76, on June 24. MacLeod’s 43-year broadcasting career began in July 1958, at CFQC-TV (now CTV Saskatoon). He became production manager in 1974, then operations manager. In 1989, he was appointed VP of Operations for CFQC-TV and then served as general manager from 1995 until his retirement in 2001. MacLeod was involved in many community events over the years including serving on the board of the Saskatoon Prairieland Exhibition.
