Reg at St.John's City Hall
VOCM Chief Engineer Passes Away
10/10/99
(Gerry Phelan, Vocm)
| Long time VOCM employee Reg McCausland died Friday afternoon at St. Clare's Mercy Hospital in St. John's after a long battle with cancer. He was 62. Reg was Chief Engineer for the VOCM Radio Service for nearly a quarter century. He served on numerous committees of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and was instrumental in working out problems with the ever-changing broadcast technology. Reg was also honored for his achievements in broadcast engineering with the National Engineer of the Year Award. The president of the VOCM Radio Service, Joseph V. Butler, noted his passing by saying Reg will be missed not only by his family but by the entire staff of the VOCM Radio Service and by the entire broadcast industry across the country. He says Reg made a lasting contribution to the industry in the area of emerging broadcast technologies. Mr. Butler says Reg was in every sense a pioneer, developing and bringing into operation equipment and functions which were completely new to broadcasting. Reg McCausland is resting at Carnell's Funeral Home. He leaves to mourn his wife Jean, one son Philip, two daughters Catherine and Susan and three grandchildren. The funeral service for Reg McCausland will take place Monday from the Anglican Cathedral at 2pm. The family will be accepting visitors at Carnell's Funeral Home from 2-4 PM and 7-9 PM Sunday. |
Reg at St.John's City Hall |
Vocm News Story on Reg McCausland
A Tribute to Reg
Trevor Joice
C.C.B.E. Oct. 1999
| It seems fitting to
mention that the last to leave the Applied suite early this morning,
were RF Engineers. In years past, at CCBE, and at other conventions the
last to leave hospitality suites, were, inevitability, RF guys, probably because of
their habit of working all night at transmitter sites. At least thats
the story Im
sticking to.
One of "those RF guys" was Reg McCausland. His habit, as of some of his buddies was to start visiting the suites, when most were starting to close, eventually ending up in one of them for the night.This was called the Prayer Meeting. Now, for those new to the Industry, I need to explain that these prayer meetings usually started at around midnight, and, on more than one occasion, finished in time for morning papers. Many subjects, with little similarity to theology, were discussed. Those, were some good prayer meetings. One of my first experiences with CCBE, was attending a Prayer Meeting, in the L&R suite, chaired by Father Reg McCausland. I soon discovered, that Reg s Prayer Meetings bared no similarity to my Baptist background. I can easily recall an image of Reg, sitting in a comfortable chair, a glass of Rye in one hand, a smoking cigarette, (Export "A"*s, I think), in the other, and his select congregation, settled about the room, in various stages of communion.Reg has been an Industry Icon, for many, many years. He has serving on CAB Technical Committees, is a recipient of the C.C.B.E. Engineer of the Year Award, (the only documented occasion where Reg was speechless), and has always been a generous, consistent mentor to his fellow Engineers. A year and a half ago, Reg had cancer surgery, with odds of not surviving the surgery,......but he did! During this lengthy battle, he has never lost his love of life, nor his sense of humour. Here are a couple of examples:
Reg has always approached his illness as a transmitter problem. "I have never a had a transmitter beat me yet! Some just take longer than others to fix, that's all." Earlier this year, Mr. Butler, owner of VOCM, called Reg at home to tell him that he had just sold the station. There was silence at Reg's end of the line.Mr. Butler continues to tell Reg that he has sold VOCM to Newcap, the ferocious competition, down the street. There is still silence at Reg's end of the line. (remember what I said earlier about Reg being speechless?) Mr. Butler goes on to explain to Reg, his personal reasons why he sold VOCM. Reg is still speechless. Mr. Butler pauses, and asks, "Reg, by the way how are you feeling?" Not missing a beat, Reg replied, "I was feeling ok ?till you called."
Reg is a typical Broadcast Engineer, not knowing when to quit. Earlier, during the summer, Reg accompanied Gary Hooper, visiting the VOCM stations throughout the province. A month ago, he traveled with Peter Cahn, helping with a supplementary proof. Reg, until a week or so ago, was planning to come to C.C.B.E. The Doctors are amazed that Reg has survived so long, and that he has not wandered from his one-liners, and jokes. In fact his Doctor is using Reg as an example of "humour and the dying." The chaplain at the Palliative Care hospital is quite intrigue with Reg. Turns out, the Chaplin knew Reg's late brother, an Anglican priest from North Bay. The Chaplin has observed, after a visit or two, that Reg is not quite like his brother. One day, the Chaplin decides that the local Bishop should come and meet Reg. Now, I have to explain to you, that sometimes palliative care patients have some reactions to the pain medication received. For example, some people will fall asleep with their eyes open. If you can visualize this, you realise that the sight of a very thin, gaunt, man, asleep with opened eyes can be somewhat of an eye-opener.(sorry for the pun). So now the stage is set... One day, the Chaplain and the Bishop walk into Reg's room. Reg has fallen asleep. His eyes are open, a bit glassy, the mouth fallen, and his upper teeth shifted, somewhat. Do you get the
picture here? I gave a call to Reg, earlier today, to see how he was doing. He was pleased that so many of you have asked for him. He tells me that he is feeling better, and he is eating again. He says that his colostomy is working again,.., very well. Well, actually he used other words, but we just had a nice dinner... Reg says that the hospital staff doesn't quite know what to make of the situation. He says people aren't supposed to get better in Palliative Care. He expects that there may be a crises, soon."In fact", he says, "I understand that there may be a Provincial Inquiry on the medicinal benefits of Newfy Screech." Reg has sent up a bottle of this fine elixir for you to sample and toast his health. Please come by the Applied suite tonight, and have a toast to Reg. Reg has asked that if anyone would like to call, and say hello, do so. He would love to chat; don't worry about the time, Reg says they don't have curfews in palliative care.There is a lesson in all of this...
Trevor Joice C.C.B.E. Oct. 1999
|