Fred Merritt, 83, on Aug. 21. Merritt spent more than 50 years in radio at stations around Ontario, starting in Orillia in 1960 at the age of 19. From there, he was on-air at CFCO Chatham, before moving over to CKKW-AM Kitchener in 1966 and sister station CFCA-FM when it began broadcasting the following year, hosting a daily live show and taping a late night easy listening program called “Night Flight.” He was among those caught up in layoffs following CFCA’s acquisition by CHUM Limited in 1994, but resurfaced a year later, hosting “Merritt in Stereo” on 98.5 CKWR-FM. Merritt retired from the station in January 2011 at age 69.