Deborra Hope, 67, on May 15, after a nearly decade-long battle with Alzheimer’s. Originally from Trail, BC, Hope left home at age 18 to attend the University of British Columbia (UBC) where she got her feet wet in journalism reading newscasts and hosting on campus station CITR and reporting for student newspaper, The Ubyssey. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree, she studied journalism at Carleton University and began working as a junior reporter with The Canadian Press. She went on to join the now-defunct United Press International (UPI) as a Vancouver-based reporter, until being lured away by former BCTV news director Cameron Bell in 1981. She hosted the Early News at 5 p.m. and the InSight segment during the News Hour at 6, in addition to the 6 p.m. newscast, alongside Tony Parsons, for many years. Hope, who was married to Global BC cameraman Roger Hope, retired at age 59 in October 2014 when she started to show symptoms of early onset dementia. Read more here.
