Ted Farr on Oct. 6, following an esophageal cancer diagnosis. Farr began his radio career in 1969 after leaving Phys. Ed studies at Vancouver Community College to pursue broadcasting. He made his debut as a news and sports announcer on CKLG Vancouver using the on-air handle “John Edwards.” In 1974, Farr joined CKY Radio in Winnipeg, quickly rising to the position of News Director. He returned to CKLG in 1977 to hold the same position there, contributing as morning news reader “Tall Ted” on the Doc Harris Show. From there, he joined the predominant country station in the market, CKWX, where he had a decade-long run as Program Director. He went on to hold management and programming roles at CJOB Winnipeg; CHQR and Power 107 (CFGQ-FM) Calgary, where he served as Operations Manager and concurrently National Program Coordinator, News Talk Radio for Western International Communications (WIC); and Rawlco Radio’s Newstalk 650 (CKOM-AM) Saskatoon and Newstalk 980 (CJME-AM) Regina where he held the title of Vice-President, News and Talk Programming. Farr went into consulting in 2008, working with Bohn & Associates, talent coaching at Vista Radio, and working in broadcaster relations with radio solutions provider, Mega Music Canada. After 37 years behind-the-scenes, he made his on-air return in 2018 as News Director and Midday News Anchor at iHeartRadio’s AM 1150 (CKFR-AM) Kelowna, a position he still held at the time of his passing. Farr was inducted into the B.C. Country Music Association Hall of Fame in 2011. Read more here.
Frank Martina, 76, on Oct. 3, after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. Hailing from Big Beaver, SK near the Montana border, Martina got into radio in the mid-1960s after winning a high school announcer competition hosted by CKCK Regina. He went on to work at stations in Weyburn and Moose Jaw before joining CJIB-AM Vernon in 1971. Martina had the distinction of being the longest-serving morning show host at CJIB, which became KISS FM and later Beach Radio. He retired in 2007, but returned to host a Saturday afternoon classics show that became a station staple. It came to an end in Dec. 2020, just months before Martina would have celebrated 50 years with the station. The Vernon Community Radio Society (VCRS) had hoped to return Martina to the airwaves with a revival of his Saturday afternoon show.
Steve Orest Andrusiak, 73, on Sept. 5 of cancer. Andrusiak’s journalism career included serving as Executive Producer of Television at CBC News Toronto, and a decade-long run as Executive Producer of TV News & Current Affairs at CBC PEI, in addition to roles with CFRN-AM Edmonton and CTV National News. From 2001-05, he chaired the Communication Arts Division at Fanshawe College and later taught Media Ethics and TV Journalism at Western University. With a deep dedication to his Ukrainian heritage, Andrusiak also hosted half-hour program “Nasha Kasha” on Radio Western (CHRW-FM) about Ukrainian life in Ontario. Starting in 2012, he served as President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (Ontario) and worked with London-based not-for-profit Canadigm as a media coordinator, helping digitally record historic sites, documents and artifacts related to Canadian history, in addition to producing and directing documentary “100 Years from Vimy.”
Duane Grandbois, 75, on Sept. 1. Grandbois had a more than 50-year career, beginning in his hometown of Weyburn, SK. From Saskatchewan, he went to Red Deer in 1976 where he was Program Director for CKRD-AM and FM, hosted the morning show and served as weatherman on the supper hour TV newscast. He went on to host afternoon drive on CKCK Regina and then CJCA Edmonton. From there, he landed at CKOV Kelowna in the early 1990s where he hosted afternoon drive and later talk radio. In 2005, he went into sales full-time with Pattison Media in Vernon, while also continuing to host a Saturday morning show and do on-location broadcasts.
