Suzanne Hansen (aka Mary S. Johnston), 77, on Sept. 15. Hansen was a reporter with CFAX Radio in Victoria in the 1970s, before turning her eye to real estate and eventually politics, successfully running for a city council seat in the late 1980s. She retired from politics in the early ‘90s after unsuccessfully running as a provincial candidate for the Social Credit party in Victoria-Beacon Hill. She went on to run a successful commercial day lily growing business, based in Mill Bay.
Bill Anderson, 98, on Sept.9. Anderson started his career in broadcasting in his hometown of Saint John at CHSJ Radio, while still in high school, prior to enlisting in WWII. He saw action in Belgium, Germany, Holland France, and following the war, chose to stay in the army to work with the press liaison office, leaving the military with the rank of Lt. Colonel. Among the wartime correspondents he worked closely with were Walter Cronkite and the CBC’s Matthew Halton. He eventually returned to Saint John and became a fixture as an on-air personality at CFBC Radio. In the late 1950s, he left the Maritimes for Toronto where he worked in communications and public relations. Since 1993, he and his wife had been living in Goderich, ON. In retirement, he volunteered for over two decades as an audio book reader for the CNIB.
Freeman Roach, 81, on Sept. 6, of cancer. Roach started his broadcasting career in his hometown of New Glasgow at CKEC in 1958. From there, he went to CFNB Bathurst, NB from 1960-66, and then landed at CJCB Sydney in Cape Breton (1967-75) where he would endear himself to listeners as host of popular request show “Roach’s Ranch.” He moved on to CHER Sydney in 1976 and then CJFX Antigonish in 1977, where he served both on-air and as program director. In 1985, he took a decade-long break from radio, starting back at The Coast (CKOA-FM) Glace Bay in 1995. He retired from broadcasting in 2005.
