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Life of veteran newspaperman to be celebrated Saturday BY JOHN CAMPBELL
Peterborough — A Celebration of Life will be held this Saturday for veteran newspaperman Roland 'Rolly' Ethier, whose career began with the North Bay Nugget and ended with his retirement after years of reporting on Campbellford and area for a weekly newspaper that later became the Central Hastings-Trent Hills News. Mr. Ethier died Sept. 5. Born in 1930 in Ottawa, he served as sports editor at the Nugget for many years. “Dad was pretty passionate about journalism generally,” said his daughter Denise Ethier in an email. But “his happiest years were when he was covering sports!” His days at the Nugget were among his “most enjoyable” but he also “truly enjoyed his time at the (Campbellford) Courier.” He started there in 1989. Her father “really liked the Town of Campbellford generally and enjoyed being an involved member of the community,” she said. Following his retirement more than a decade ago “he left Campbellford very reluctantly” to take up residence in Peterborough. Mr. Ethier began work at the Nugget in the 1950s where he remained until the mid-1960s when he switched to Broadcast News based in Toronto. In the mid-1970s Mr. Ethier “tried his hand at his own stereo shop” in Peterborough, opening a franchise called Muntz, his daughter said.
Above, Denise Ethier said her father Rolly really enjoyed his time in Campbellford reporting on events for a weekly newspaper that eventually became the Central HastingsTrent Hills News. Right, while sports editor of the North Bay Nugget Rolly met star athletes, such as boxer Archie Moore. Submitted photos
It was a family business with her mother and three brothers working there. Her parents eventually exited the franchise business and her father worked for a short period at the Peterborough Examiner as sports edi-
tor. Mr. Ethier was hired as the editor of Trot magazine in 1982 and continued in that role until 1986 when he “was dealt a tough blow” — the magazine was sold and new management brought in, Ms. Ethier said.
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By then in his late 50s, Mr. Ethier moved to Pembroke to help one of his sons open a Weed Man franchise. “While there my Dad realized that Pembroke might be in need of weekly newspaper,” Ms. Ethier said, so he and a partner launched the Greater Pembroke Enterprise. Eventually the two partners “dissolved their financial relationship and the paper closed,” she said. It was after that he began work as editor at the Courier. Ellie Tweedie came to know Mr. Ethier while working for the newspaper when it was subsequently known as the Shield (later EMC). “Although small in stature, Rolly was positively mighty; intelligent, funny, opinionated, loyal, a great conversationalist, writer, sportsman, family orientated, colleague, friend and mentor, the list goes on,” she said in an email. If she were to describe Rolly in just one sentence she would say, “He was a small package from which, when opened a huge celebration exploded filled with love which he generously shared with all who knew him.” Mr. Ethier is survived by Laurie, his wife of 65 years. They had five children — Nancy, Andy, Steve, Ron and Denise — five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. The family will be holding a Celebration of Life for Rolly Sept. 23 between 2 and 4 p.m. at Highland Park Funeral Home, 2510 Bensfort Rd., Peterborough. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Diabetes Canada as a tribute in Rolly’s name at www.diabetes.ca.
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