Dylan Willows, 45, on June 6. Willows was part of the launch team at Vancouver’s The Beat 94.5 (CFBT-FM) during the early part of his broadcast career. He returned to his hometown of Victoria in 2005 to take a position with Pattison Media’s 100.3 The Q (CKKQ-FM), before moving over to sister station The Zone @ 91-3 (CJZN-FM) a year later. Paired with co-host Jason Lamb for almost two decades on the station morning show, Lamb accepted the BC Association of Broadcasters’ Broadcast Performer of the Year award in May on behalf of the duo. Vancouver Island General Manager Rob Bye told the BCAB gathering that the morning show was a ratings leader, ranking #1 at least 10 books in a row with adults 18-44. Willows also promoted countless Victoria artists during his decade as the director of The Zone’s Band of the Month program. He stepped away from the station in March following a stage 4 uveal melanoma diagnosis he revealed in December, which he had previously battled 20 years ago. The Zone hosted a sold out benefit concert, in honour of the veteran announcer, at the Royal Theatre on March 19. Read more here.
Tony Cashman, 101, on June 3. Cashman began working at CFRN Radio in Edmonton as a radio reporter in 1949 after returning from WWII where he flew 30 missions as an RCAF navigator. He went on to work with CJCA. Interested in bringing the city’s history to life, he launched “The Edmonton Story,” which ran for 700 episodes on the station and produced more than 15 books. Cashman went on to work at the Edmonton Journal, served as program director at CKUA radio through the 1960s, and curator of the Vista 33 telephone and telecommunications museum. Over the years he wrote histories of Alberta’s nursing profession, the Alberta Motor Association and Edmonton Northlands, in addition to illustrated histories of Alberta and Western Canada. He was honoured as an “Edmontonian of the Century” in 2004, was inducted into Edmonton’s Cultural Hall of Fame in 1999, and was awarded the Alberta Order of Excellence in 2014.
Carol Little Partridge Armit, 81, on May 8. A member of the McCreary Dramatic Society in her hometown of McCreary, MB, Armit won a scholarship to the Banff School of Fine Arts, moving to New York City in 1960 to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London followed, before she returned to Canada and graduated from the Carleton University journalism program, beginning her career as a print journalist for the Ottawa Citizen. She went on to join the Winnipeg Free Press and then CJOB In 1976, where she hosted an open line show. She was elected the first woman president of the Winnipeg Press Club. After moving to Regina, she founded Newswatch Canada in 1987. She retired at age 78 to Killarney, MB.
Edmund Dearden, 96, on March 29. Dearden joined the Winnipeg Tribune in 1944 right out of high school as an apprentice printer in the composing room. After a labour dispute forced out all union shop employees, he spent the next 13 years with Canadian Pacific Railway, continuing to freelance for the Tribune sports department, which he joined on a permanent basis in 1959. In 1965, he started covering golf as a freelancer for CJOB, also reporting on national and international competitions. During the mid-70s, he also began covering the Winnipeg Jets and served as the colour commentator for Jets broadcasts on CJOB. He retired in 1990 after serving as the media coordinator for what’s now known as Sport Manitoba. Dearden was a past president of the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association and was named to its Media Roll of Honour in 1990. He was also an inductee of the Manitoba Hockey, Golf and Basketball Halls of Fame.
