RADIO SILENCE

Toronto morning host legend Wally Crouter passed away peacefully in his sleep at age 92,

Wally Crouter, a broadcaster who served as morning host of Toronto radio station CFRB for 50 years, has died at age 92.

Crouter passed away peacefully in his sleep Monday, according to the radio station, which is now known as Newstalk 1010.

Crouter was born on Aug. 5, 1923, in Lindsay, Ont., and joined CFRB on Nov. 1, 1946, after serving with the Canadian army in the Second World War and a brief stint with CHEX in Peterborough, Ont. Over the course of a half-century, he became one of CFRB’s most famous broadcasters and the city’s top-rated morning host.

According to Crouter’s son Glenn, Crouter would stop to speak with people who recognized his voice.

“He’d stop and talk to them and never ever did I ever see, in the entire time, him ever not giving the person the proper time that he felt to get to know them — and thank them for listening.”

“He was an icon in Toronto. Whenever there was a big story, like Hurricane Hazel or the opening of the subway, Wally was there. Everyone listened and wanted to be on the Wally Crouter morning show,” said Mike Bendixen, the station’s program director. “Decade after decade, Wally brought this comforting tone to his audience as he unpacked the day’s news. It was like listening to a family or friend.”

Crouter retired exactly 50 years later, on Nov. 1, 1996. He was later inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame.

“It’s unheard of to have a career spanning that length, especially in radio,” Bendixen said. “He really was Canada’s longest-serving morning radio man.”

He noted that Crouter aged so well on air because of his innate ability to be apart of the every Torontonian’s daily grind and stories.

“He took morning radio and crafted his own show when he first came to CFRB at 23. His show became such a comforting, familiar experience for news every morning that his many listeners passed down his show from generation to generation,” said Bendixen.

“He spoke to hundreds of thousands of people at the same time. Each one of them thought he was talking to them directly,” said Ted Woloshyn, a former CFRB host who took over the morning show after Crouter’s retirement.

“His warmth, his charm, his work in the community — he’s a very charitable, very hospitable man. It’s a combination of all those things that made him as great as he is.”

It was his hospitality that allowed Crouter to become friends with people such as golf legend Arnold Palmer, CFL superstar Jackie Parker and hockey immortal Gordie Howe.

Crouter is survived by his wife, Lynne, sons Dale and Glenn, daughter Janice, and five grandchildren.