Roy Gardner, 83, on July 4. Raised in Souris, MB, Gardner started his broadcast career at CKX-TV in Brandon in 1964. He went on to hold roles in Kelowna and Kamloops, before joining CHEK-TV in 1973 where he spent 15 years, ascending to the role of General Manager. Gardner joined BCTV (now Global BC) in 1987, retiring as the station’s General Manager in 2008. He later came out of retirement in 2013 to guide CHEK Media Group through a period of organizational restructuring to help stabilize the employee-owned station, as President and General Manager. His industry advocacy efforts included serving as President of the B.C. Association of Broadcasters (BCAB) from 1989 to 1990. He was recognized with the BCAB’s Broadcaster of the Year Award in 2003. Read more here.

Doug Thorne, 74, unexpectedly on July 3. Thorne was hired right out of Ryerson University by Dick Smyth at CHUM in 1973.  After working in the newsroom for five years, he moved into sales in 1977, managing accounts for clients including Universal Studios, Paramount, United Artists, Levi-Strauss, Speedy Muffler, and Ontario Place. Thorne moved on to Kingston in 1988 to fulfil his dream of being an on-air announcer, heard in afternoon drive on CFLY-FM. He was part of downsizing at CHUM Limited in 2000, and moved into a new career with Gordon F. Tompkins Funeral Homes. He later worked with the Ambassador Conference Resort as Senior Manager of Business Development, in addition to continuing to do voiceover work under the banner of Doug Thorne Productions.  

Tommy Hunter, 89, on July 2. Known as “Canada’s Country Gentleman,” Hunter got his start in country music television in 1956 when he became a cast member of CBC’s “Country Hoedown.” “The Tommy Hunter Show” began airing as a CBC Radio program in 1960, before Hunter was given his own television show in 1965, which replaced Country Hoedown and went on to air for the next 27 years. Prior to its cancellation by CBC in 1992, the show was also broadcast on The Nashville Network (TNN) in the U.S., reaching as many as 75 million homes. The recipient of three JUNO Awards and one Gemini, Hunter was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1984 and given a star on the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Walkway of Stars in Nashville in 1990. He was inducted into the Order of Canada in 1986. Read more here.

Michael Zaplitny (aka Mike Douglas), on June 28, in Swift Current, SK, after a battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Born in Dauphin, MB, Zaplitny graduated from Brandon University in 1974. His radio career included a stint as Program Director for CJME and Z99 (CIZL-FM) Regina, later becoming  General Manager for 650 CKOM and C95 (CFMC-FM) Saskatoon, and then 66 CFR Calgary. Zaplitny was named Operations Manager for the Rawlco Radio group in 1987. Among other industry initiatives, he served as president of the Saskatchewan Association of Broadcasters (SAB) from 2001-03, in addition to serving on the board of the Western Association of Broadcasters (WAB). He additionally served as president of the Regina Chamber of Commerce. Zaplitny was awarded the Canada 125 medal at Government House in 1992, given to “citizens who had made significant contributions to their community and to Canada.” 

Tom Jeffries, 77, on June 25. Jeffries got his first taste of broadcasting at University of Victoria campus station UVIC Radio (CFUV-FM) in his hometown of Victoria in the early 1960s when he sat in for a friend who couldn’t make his show. That led to work as a part-time announcer at CFAX and CKDA, beginning in 1967. He detoured to CKPG Prince George in 1970 where he hosted all-nights, before arriving in Vancouver in 1972 and his first stint at CFUN and CKVN. The son of a career naval officer and no stranger to moving around, the young announcer headed east to CFRA Ottawa in 1974, and then CFTR Toronto, before making his way back to CFUN, where he helmed middays and afternoon drive from 1978 to 1986. He went on to join the CJCH Halifax morning show from 1986-90, once again returning to the West Coast and a 10-year run in afternoons on Vancouver’s CKKS-FM. Jeffries later helmed mornings at CKBD Vancouver from 2001-03. His last turn in radio was at CKNW Vancouver, where he hosted the CKNW Weekend Morning News and filled-in on Housecalls, before retiring in 2010. Read more here.