‘Always Joe, never Grandpa.’ In memory of local sports media legend Joe Spence

“A Tribute to Joe Spence: ‘Always Joe, Never Grandpa'”

local news

The longtime sports radio and TV broadcaster died last week at the age of 92.

Joe Spence around the time he retired from the CBC. Taken care of by the family.

In the days when the local 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. television news programs were a must for die-hard Ottawa sports fans, Joe Spence was an on-screen fixture.

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After his death aged 92 last week, he will be remembered as “one of the good guys” for the professionalism he brought to his craft.

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Spence, who lost his wife Christine to cancer in 1993, is survived by three children – Geoffrey, Michael and Linda – five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Toronto native Spence was already an established media voice in Sudbury – the radio play-by-play announcer for more than 1,000 games for the senior league’s Sudbury Wolves – when he made the leap to Ottawa in 1964. He then spent three decades at CJOH, CBC Radio and CBOT, always proud of the role he was able to play in delivering sports and news on radio and television.

In the early days of live televised sports in Canada, Spence became a household name, working alongside Johnny Esaw for Canadian Football League games and as the original play-by-play voice for the World Hockey Association’s Toronto Toros.

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Spence earned widespread respect from viewers for his daily TV updates and he became a mentor to countless aspiring journalists. He was also remarkably unassuming for a public figure.

“I worked with him in his later years as he read the late news (via CBOT),” said longtime CBOT and CJOH athlete Dan Seguin, who retired last year. “But I remember him more as a kid growing up in the area. He was the best sports reporter in town. He had an amazing voice and he really knew sports.”

Seguin says Spence offered a “no-nonsense” philosophy toward the deal.

Given his involvement in the Ottawa sports scene, Spence naturally kept a close eye on the Ottawa Rough Riders and the Ottawa 67’s.

“He was a good guy with a good sense of humor,” said Brian Kilrea, a former ’67s coach and general manager who saw more than his share of reporters come and go during his 35-year Hall of Famer career behind the bench . “He sometimes came into the (dressing) room. He was one of the good guys. I had a lot of time for him. He was knowledgeable. He definitely did his homework.”

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Joe Spence (second left) when he was on CKSO TV. Delivered by family. jpeg

After his stint on CBOT’s newsroom, Spence reluctantly retired at age 65 in 1995 due to CBC retirement policies, but continued to live in Ottawa.

The memory of Spence will live on among sports fans in Sudbury, Ottawa. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2008 Ottawa Sports Awards. In 2013 he was inducted into the Sudbury Sports Wall of Fame.

After being diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2007 and having a laryngectomy to remove his vocal cords, he lost his voice. But that didn’t stop Spence from engaging with the news. He routinely wrote letters and occasionally columns to newspapers.

In a 2009 fight to get a credit card blocked, Spence had to speak for himself on the phone to avoid a $25 fee. Without a voice, that became a problem. It was a humbling experience for someone who made a living from speaking. After the story was told in the Citizen, the credit card company eventually apologized for its treatment of Spence.

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It was all in Spence’s spirit.

“He’s battled cancer a couple of times but he was still perceptive. He still had all his skills and remembered a lot of things,” said his grandson Nick. “He was a fantastic journalist. It was a life well lived.”

Nick says his grandfather — “always Joe, never grandpa” — had old-fashioned sensibilities.

“He was very attached to old-school news ideas. It really meant a lot to him to be able to be on the air at 6 p.m., but I tried not to talk about modern media. He wasn’t a big fan of the sensational stuff, the non-serious news.”

Spence respected privacy and avoided gossip about the many athletes and personalities he encountered along the way, but his son Mike fondly remembers the days as a child, occasionally accompanying his father to work.

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“I remember being in the locker room at the old Ottawa Rough Riders,” he said. “These guys were so kind to me and I know it was because of my dad.”

Mike Spence also recalls his father telling him a story about his brief stint with the WHA when the Toros played from 1973-1976.

“Eventually he drove both Gordie Howe and Terry Sawchuk to the All-Star Game.”

All of this led to an impressive media career that started quite innocently.

Spence originally moved to Sudbury from Toronto to become a teacher, but in 1952 he joined Sudbury’s CKSO as an early riser. He then worked for Regina radio for a year, where he met Christine, and returned to Sudbury.

Eventually he switched to the television side of CKSO, Canada’s first commercial broadcaster, before moving to Ottawa.

The rest is history.

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Source: ottawacitizen.com

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