Regina Leader-Post

FINAL FAREWELL:

Broncos play-by-play announcer Bieber taught area students basketball, football

- THIA JAMES

Play-by-play announcer loved teaching children to play sports

The parking lot was full as family, friends and loved ones — many wearing the jersey of their favourite sports team, many with ‘BroncosStr­ong ’ bumper stickers on their vehicles — attended the funeral of play-by-play announcer Tyler Bieber, the first of 16 victims in last Friday ’s Humboldt Broncos bus crash to be laid to rest.

The service was held Thursday at Elgar Petersen Arena, where the Broncos play their home games. Bieber, who turned 29 in February, was well known in Humboldt’s sports community, both for his on-air work with radio station Bolt FM and the amount of time he volunteere­d for local teams and organizati­ons.

After the hour-long service, a procession of vehicles — with a Bolt FM car near the lead — slowly left the parking lot. Many of the people quietly entering and leaving the arena were holding hands or putting their arms around others.

Lyndon Friesen, president of Bolt FM’s parent company, Golden West Radio, travelled from Manitoba to attend Thursday’s service with other employees. Friesen called Bieber’s death “tragic” and said it had a huge impact on the people who work there.

“He was a critical piece to the station,” Friesen said in an interview.

Maureen Johnson, who knows Bieber’s mother and has a child Bieber’s age, wore a jersey to the service. She said she attended to show support not only for Bieber’s family, but “to show strong support for the kids in the hospital.”

The collision between the Broncos bus and a semi-trailer took place last Friday as the Broncos travelled to Nipawin from Humboldt for the Saskatchew­an Junior Hockey League (SJHL) semifinal series against the Nipawin Hawks.

Bieber was vice-president of the Humboldt touch football league, involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters as a mentor and was set to start coaching at a football academy in Saskatoon three days a week. He was also a fan of the NFL’s New England Patriots. When Patriots owner Robert Kraft learned that, he sent flowers on behalf of the team to Thursday’s service and also left a voice mail for Bieber’s mother expressing condolence­s, according to ESPN.

“My son was one amazing man,” Bieber’s mother, Marilyn Hay, said last week. “He would get up at 5:30 every morning and go to work, but his day didn’t stop there. After, he would volunteer with the high school kids — teaching them basketball, football, he taught the girls flag football — he had a real passion for that. Tyler was rarely at home between running from work to volunteer jobs,” she said. “He wasn’t in it for the money, he’d get paid extra for being an announcer, but he’d drop that to go be a volunteer coach instead.”

In a post on Facebook, his brother Brandon said, “I don’t know what to do or say right now but I know one thing is you will always be true in my heart, RIP my sweet brother, I miss you and love you dearly.”

Four more services were scheduled for Friday:

A celebratio­n of life is set for Jacob Leicht, 19, at 10 a.m. at the Elgar Petersen Arena.

A mass is scheduled for Adam Herold, 16, at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Montmartre at 2 p.m.

A memorial service is scheduled for bus driver Glen Doerksen, 59, at 2 p.m. at the Carrot River Community Hall.

A service for 21-year-old Logan Boulet has been scheduled for from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Martin Brothers Riverview Chapel in Lethbridge, Alta., followed by a celebratio­n of life on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Nicholas Sheran Ice Centre.

With files from Dave Deibert and Erin Petrow in Saskatoon and The Canadian Press

He wasn’t in it for the money, he’d get paid extra for being an announcer, but he’d drop that to go be a volunteer coach instead.

 ?? MICHELLE BERG ?? People arrive Thursday at Elgar Petersen Arena for the funeral of Humboldt Broncos play-by-play announcer Tyler Bieber.
MICHELLE BERG People arrive Thursday at Elgar Petersen Arena for the funeral of Humboldt Broncos play-by-play announcer Tyler Bieber.

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