Bob Moir, 87, Dec. 18 at Humber River Hospital. Moir spent four decades with CBC Sports as an executive producer and commentator. Hailing from Winnipeg, Moir began his career with CBC in 1952, calling the Grey Cup in 1958. He went on to serve as a commentator at the network’s first Olympics in Tokyo in 1964. During the 1972 Olympics, Moir was in Munich when terrorists took members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage and 11 were later killed. He and late CBC commentator Don Wittman snuck into the Olympic Village, posing as doctors, to report live. Moir went on to executive produce CBC’s coverage of the Summer Olympics in Montreal in 1976, Seoul in 1988 and the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France. He closed out his career as executive producer of the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, for which he won multiple Gemini Awards. Over his more than 40 years with the network, Bob recruited and promoted many well-known commentators and analysts and was a mentor to many production and technical staff. He earned induction into the CFL Hall of Fame in 1985 and was also an inductee of the CBC Sports Hall of Fame.
Raymond Mostoway, aka Dan Roman, 75, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Dec. 21 at his home in New Brunswick. Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Dan was 16 years old and still in high school when he began his radio career at CKSW-AM Swift Current. He soon joined his brother Duff Roman on-air in Toronto at CKEY-AM and CHUM-AM. The brothers also co-founded Roman Records, with their label producing David Clayton Thomas (Blood Sweat and Tears), The Paupers, and Levon and The Hawks who later became The Band behind Bob Dylan. Dan went on to work at CJCH-AM Halifax in the 1970s and became program director at 960 AM CHNS before relocating to New Brunswick. While station manager at CKCW-FM Moncton, Dan met the love of his life Bernice Comeau, a volunteer for charity promotions. They later put down roots in Quispamsis, NB where Dan was General Manager at K100 (CIOK-FM) Saint John until his retirement.
Jeffrey Newfield, aka Scruff Connors, 64, on Dec. 18. One of the original Canadian shock jocks, Connors’ legacy is the well-remembered stunts he embarked on at numerous stations. His most prominent work was with Q107 in Toronto, where he became morning host in 1980. After broadcasting in other cities, he returned to Q107 in the early 1990s to join the “The Q Morning Zoo.” In between, he did stints at WYSP-FM Philadelphia, CHTZ-FM St. Catharine’s and CFBR-FM Edmonton. He also spent time at CFSL-AM Weyburn, CJKR-FM Winnipeg, and MOJO (CFMJ-AM) Toronto. His stunts ranged from confining himself in the Q107 studio and repeatedly airing Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven, to a 1995 contest he announced in Winnipeg where selected listeners could watch Super Bowl XXIX in Miami. Thirty fans were chosen to meet Connors at the airport where they boarded a bus that took them to watch the game on a monochrome television at a lounge in the tiny community of Miami, Manitoba. Scruff also used his popularity for good, responding in 1980 after Terry Fox was forced to abandon his Marathon of Hope. Connors raised $72,000 for cancer research by hosting a 36-hour “Scruff-a-thon” on Q107. Following his layoff from MOJO Toronto in 1995, Connors underwent quadruple bypass surgery and later battled bladder cancer, retiring to Osoyoos, BC.
Beverley “Bev” Wakeman Edwards, 87, on Dec. 7, following a brief illness. Raised in Muskoka, Wakeman is best remembered for producing the “Wally Crouter Show” at CFRB Toronto where he worked for 38 years. Edwards and his wife Bernice were retired to the Skeleton Lake area.
Eileen Olive Forbom, 86, in Sudbury. Born in Oshawa, ON, Eileen grew up in Scotland and moved to Sudbury at the age of 17. She joined CKSO-AM Sudbury in 1948, and worked there for 38 years, retiring as the first female general manager. She also helped start Canadore College.
Gordie Tapp, 94, passed away peacefully in Burlington, ON on Dec. 18. The legendary Canadian entertainer started out in the golden age of radio in Guelph, quickly getting pulled to CHML-AM Hamilton to develop an evening show called What’s On Tapp?. CHML’s Main Street Jamboree put Gordie on the map, airing on both radio and television in the 1950s. He then moved on to CBC’s Country Hoedown from 1956-1965. That’s where the hayseed character Cousin Clem was borne, which he would later take south of the border to the long-running CBS variety show Hee Haw. Tapp was a member of the Order of Canada and was the first inductee into the Burlington Performing Arts Centre Hall of Fame, the city he lived in for nearly six decades.
Jack Lowe, 82, passed away on Jan. 2. Jack immigrated to Canada from Barbados when he was in his teens, graduating from Toronto’s Central Tech High School. He started working as an engineer for Foster Hewitt’s radio station CKFH-AM 1430 in 1959 where he spent many a hockey game lugging 1940s equipment up to the ‘gondula’ in Maple Leaf Gardens to broadcast Leafs games with Hewitt. He remained with the station through three ownership changes and one frequency change, moving into semi-retirement in 2002.
Greg Barnsley, 83, on Jan. 2 after a short illness. Barnsley was one of the first employees at CFQC-TV (CTV Saskatoon) when the station went to air in 1954. A familiar face in Saskatoon media and beloved weatherman, Barnsley retired in 1992. The CTV Saskatoon studio was upgraded and renamed after Barnsley in 2014. His son Jim continues to work at CTV Saskatoon as a camera operator.
