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ROBB LEWIS GLAZIER July 9, 1942 - April 24, 2023
It is with sadness that we write that Robb Lewis Glazier died on April 24th, 2023. He is survived by his wife, Sandy, children, Karen (Terra) and Michael (Kim), and grandchildren, Claire and Graeme. Pre-deceased by his parents, Edna and Les Glazier. Robb was born in Edmonton, Alberta on July 9, 1942 but, as he always told people, “It was too cold there so I moved my parents to Vancouver when I was 15 months old.” From that moment on he was a Kerrisdale kid. He lived around the corner from the Kerrisdale Arena playing hockey from a young age and becoming a “rink rat” later on. He was a goalie, and loved it, but it was the days before face masks so he switched to forward to save his face.
He was an active child who was on baseball teams, learned to ski on Grouse Mountain and brought horses home to ride even though he lived in town. At a young age he helped his Great-Uncle Harry deliver milk in a horse-drawn cart from their farm on Sea Island.
At 14 he bought his first Harley and had to find friends who were 16 so he could ride on it! Within a few years he had his license and started road racing at Westwood and earned 1st places when he was still a teenager. Then he found cars and bought, fixed up and sold several. While he was still at school he worked at Hot Rod shops. He thought he had settled on a future with that and dropped out of school in Grade 10 to follow that dream. However, when the dream became a reality, he realized that there was a world beyond cars and went to night school to get his Grades 11/12 and went to UBC. There he worked on an education degree and, obviously, joined all the UBC sports teams.
A friend told him about an opportunity to play hockey in Antwerp so he decided to take some time off to explore the world. He was a little short on funds so he got to Montreal and attempted to stow away on a ship. He was soon discovered and tossed off. Luckily, he found a Norwegian ship that would allow him to work his passage over to Europe via the Caribbean. At one stop, the Dominican Republic, there was still some activity and bullets were flying but Robb was not deterred in his mission. Finally he made it to Belgium and had a wonderful time. Following that he and a friend toured Europe, the Balkans and North Africa in a Volkswagen van for 6 months. After his return to Canada he went back to UBC and finished his Degree.
However, he only substituted for a short time before he was offered a job at the Vancouver Canucks. He had worked there helping with season ticket sales and they were so impressed that they hired him. Later they sent him down to Seattle to work in Sales and Marketing at their farm club's (Seattle Totems) office. Occasionally, he would help doing color with the broadcaster. Early one morning he got a call telling him that the broadcaster had resigned and asking him if he would take on the job. Never one to shy away from a challenge he said, “Yes”. Another page opened in Robb's book of life.
When the Seattle Totems were no more, he became “The Voice of the New Westminster Bruins” on CJJC. Then, a new television station in Vancouver, called CKVU, offered Robb the opportunity to move from radio to TV and, along with John Good, Robb became one of the first hosts of CKVU's “Sportspage”. Here he and Sandy started dating. They had known each other through business for a while and he had tried to get a date before but the timing had never been right. In 1979 they married but along the way Robb had picked up other loves...water skiing, a boat named “Adaquate” and a house on Lake Sammamish. The U.S. government had decided that they had waited long enough for Robb to get his immigration completed so they said, “Get a job down here now or we're throwing it all in the garbage.” Very quickly, Robb found a job as broadcaster and Sales Director for the Seattle Breakers and the newly weds moved to Bellevue, Washington.
Soccer with the Seattle Sounders came next and he also joined USA Network's team of travelling broadcasters. In 1981 a son, Michael, entered his world. Unfortunately, Robb became ill shortly after that with a blood infection which culminated in heart surgery a few months later. During recovery he continued to work and travel even though he didn't have the strength to carry his broadcast bag without assistance.
After that came an opportunity to get into TV news with KSTW in Tacoma and he found himself covering everything from murders to slug races. A few years later the family moved back to B.C. and Robb went to work at CFUN. In 1985 the family moved to Winnipeg. Here he was thrilled to become a father again when Karen was born in 1990. Robb worked on Blue Bomber broadcasts and eventually became The Voice of the Blue Bombers. He was extremely proud to call the 1991 Grey Cup in Winnipeg. After that he became the News Director of 1290 FOX and co-hosted a morning talk show. When the station changed format in 1999, he moved to Ottawa to host a morning sports show on The TEAM and the pre-game show for the Ottawa Senators. The family remained behind in Winnipeg and a move was planned for the end of the school year. Unfortunately, two months after starting his new job, he came down with another blood infection that moved more swiftly this time and ruptured a blood vessel in his brain which then clotted and required surgery. This resulted in hemiplegia and it also robbed him of his career as his speech was affected. He went through 2 months of hospitalization and 3 months of in-patient rehab. Finally, he was able to go home to Winnipeg and continued out-patient therapy.
Throughout this time Robb never lost his confidence and continued to work at his recovery. However, he could never completely conquer the ice and snow so, tiring of falling down every time he got out of his vehicle in the winter, the decision was made to move back to the West Coast. He had also got his driver's license back with the addition of special adaptations to the vehicles which allowed for left foot driving. In 2003 he, Sandy and Karen moved to Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island. Robb joined the Stroke Recovery Group and was active as a board member for many years. Robb continued to attract many friends as he had always done. He was always a party animal. Despite his challenges, that also included 2 bouts of colon cancer in 1994 and 2010, he continued to boat and even skied for a while at Mount Washington. He battled bravely through broken hips, ribs and back and kept on going, smiling all the time. He loved life, his family, people and animals. Sadly, the colon cancer came back again and this time he wasn't able to defeat it. However, he spent his final days in the heart of the home with his family and left the world he loved so much, peacefully, at 10am.
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