Former Sun sports columnist Jim Kearney passes away
by Lyndon Little
Vancouver Sun
Published: Sunday, August 24, 2008

Former Vancouver Sun sports columnist Jim Kearney passed away last Friday at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver. He was 86.

A native of Victoria, Kearney began his career in journalism right out of high school in 1940 with the Victoria Times. Three years later, he joined the Vancouver Sun where he covered a variety of beats before beginning his career as a general sports columnist.

Kearney is believed to have set some sort of record for durability as a member of the Sun sports staff by writing five columns a week for 17 consecutive years.(!!)

"Jim was meticulous in his preparation," recalls longtime friend and fellow Sun sports columnist, Jim Taylor. "He did his homework. We worked very well together and became great friends."

Coincidentally, Kearney passed away the day before the closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. Chronicling Canada's amateur athletes was one of Kearney's special passions. He covered four summer Olympics and three Commonwealth Games in his role as a columnist.

Kearney is survived by his wife of 54 years Patti and their children Leslie, Michael, Trisha and Katie. A fifth child Stuart pre-deceased him.

"Jim and I met in West Vancouver when I was 26," related his wife Sunday. "I was working at a drugstore and he came in to buy cigarettes. He just kept coming back. He was an amazing person; an exceedingly honest man. A very trustworthy person. He had a lot of medical problems over the past 10 years but he endured them bravely."

A longtime resident of both Horseshoe Bay and Bowen Island, Kearney also worked at various times for The Province, Canadian Press and Reuters. In 1966 he won a national newspaper award for a two-part series on drugs in sport. In 1974, he was the runnerup for the same award. He's also a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame's media section and was inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.

After leaving the Sun, Kearney joined the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame as media relations director and later authored the book Champions, A B.C. Sports Album. After his retirement he continued as a popular contributor to the CBC Radio's Morning Edition.

llittle@vancouversun.com

Kearney was heard for more than a decade, possibly 20 years or more, with a regular sports comment in CBC Radio (Vancouver's) early morning programming.