Longtime Winnipeg broadcaster Larry Updike has passed away following a colon cancer diagnosis just one week ago. He was 69.
Updike posted to social media last Thursday that he’d received a cancer diagnosis, including spots on his liver, following tests he’d been undergoing for severe abdominal pain. He passed away this morning after undergoing surgery last Saturday.
Updike is best known as one-half of “Tom and Larry,” the morning show he hosted alongside Tom McGouran, initially on Power 97 (CJKR-FM) from 1982 to 1988 and then on 92 CITI for another six years. The highly-rated duo were lured to Vancouver’s Rock 101 (CFMI-FM) in 1994, but the show did not translate to the new market and they were released after less than a year.
Updike later resurfaced on 680 CJOB in 1995, where he went on to host the morning show from 2000-09. In 2009, he signed on with Winnipeg’s Siloam Mission as the not-for-profit organization’s Senior Communications Spokesperson. He was inducted into the Manitoba Broadcasters Hall of Fame that same year. He went on to host “Up to Speed,” the afternoon show on CBC Radio One, from 2010-13.
Performing in public from the time he was a child in Southern Ontario as part of a family singing group, Updike was an ordained minister prior to his radio career, which he began to supplement his income. In 2014, he published My Word! The Larry Updike Story, chronicling his journey from Pentecostal minister to rock radio and talk show host.
“He left his mark in our industry and in our community and won’t be soon forgotten,” Power 97 wrote in a tribute on X.
“He was a longtime staple of Winnipeg radio and all of our lives were better with Larry in it,” shared 92 CITI.
Saddened to hear the news of Larry’s passing. May he rest in peace. #Winnipeg https://t.co/I27PUSEsJu
— Mayor Scott Gillingham (@ScottGillingham) June 20, 2024
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