My thoughts on the passing of Lloyd Robertson

Lloyd Robertson. (File Photo)

Lee Griffi, Editor

Lloyd Robertson was the reason I got into journalism. Period. He passed away at the age of 92 last week, surrounded by his family.

It was about 10 p.m. last Tuesday. I was lying in bed thinking about the stories I was working on and brainstorming new ones when an alert flashed on my phone. He was not a young man, so his passing did not come as a surprise, but wow, the memories that came back at that second were fast and furious.

I spent the first 27 years of my life as a Stratford boy, and I started watching the news with my mom when I was about 12. I knew at that point I wanted to be a TV news anchor. I watched every newscast Lloyd anchored when I wasn't on the ice, the golf course, or a basketball court somewhere, and I was hooked.

While I wasn’t fortunate enough to reach that plateau in my career, I started at CJCS in Stratford as a newscaster/reporter at the age of 22. I have been a journalist and communications professional ever since. I did have an interview at the old CKCO TV in Kitchener when I was in my late 20s but didn’t get the gig.

Lloyd’s first radio job, just like mine, was at CJCS, which I believe was located on Ontario Street in Stratford. I spent 10 years in the business before moving on to a communications and health care career for 15 years. But here I am, back in the industry I started in 35 years ago.

CJCS had a party at the Stratford Festival a few years after I started (I can’t remember exactly why), and Lloyd was there. He made a point of introducing himself and his lovely wife to every single person in the room, and what stood out most to me was that he didn’t once talk about himself. He asked questions about me and everyone else there.

I was covering a bank robbery at the Stratford Mall in the late 90’s along with Art Baumunk, a great reporter from CTV in Kitchener. Someone yelled, “Stop that man” while I was walking back to my 1993 Chevy Cavalier to head to the station after talking to some witnesses. I ran him down, tackled him, and held him until police arrived, all while Art’s cameraman was filming. The story made the national news with Lloyd Robertson. Oh, and no, it wasn’t the bank robber, just a shoplifter.

Lloyd came over to me at the party and asked me all about that day and my radio career. To say the least, I was shocked. Here is my idol standing right in front of me and asking me questions about the incident and my job. That is the kind of man he was. Curious, engaging and sincere.

The man was built for journalism and just may have been the most trusted person in Canadian history – and for good reason. Our politicians and many current big-name journalists could take some lessons in integrity from him. I think he can teach all of us a lesson – have integrity, tell the truth, and the world will be a far better place.

I do some freelance work for Vista Radio, which now owns CJCS. They asked me to write a few words about my memories, which led me to write this column. The station used some of my comments on the air and online, and I quickly heard from CTV News in Kitchener, where a young reporter named Colton Wiens asked if I would share some of my Lloyd memories. I gladly agreed.

If you watched and read the coverage, even if you didn’t know who Lloyd was, you would have been impressed by how many people he touched. You only had to meet him once to figure out what kind of person he was.