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| Brian Whipp |
Brian John Whipp cared about Sun Media - even after he became one of the hundreds of Quebecor casualties after 27 years with the Edmonton and Calgary Suns.
No anonymity for Brian when he had something to say to Toronto Sun Family members in recent years. He put his name to comments and was an active contributor.
So we were sad to hear about his passing in an e-mail early today directing us to his online obit.
The Sarnia-born former newspaper techie died last week at the Lethbridge Regional Hospital in Alberta. He was 55. His funeral was Saturday. Condolences can be left online here or you can share your memories with TSF readers in an e-mail.
Brian got his first newspaper experience as a printer at the Petrolia Advertiser-Topic in Ontario, which was owned by his father, Charles. He was also production manager of the student newspaper at the University of Western Ontario.
His obit says Brian moved to Alberta in the 1970s to enhance his education as a computer technician and was later hired by the Edmonton Sun to set up the IT department for the fledgling Calgary Sun in 1980.
Brian was manager of the Calgary Sun's IT system's department when pink-slipped in 2007. He met his wife, Kim Bullock, a co-worker at the Calgary Sun, and they later set up their own business, the Freeman River RV Park in Fort Assiniboine, Alberta.
Busy as they were with the RV business, Brian always had time for TSF and we thank him for sharing his newspaper experiences in Petrolia, Edmonton and Calgary.
Sorry to read this sad news.
ReplyDeleteBrian and I had an enjoyable e-mail exchange on December 16, 2010, prompted by one of my posts on this website.
Turns out that Brian and I have several mutual friends from his time spent at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario during the early 1970s.
I just re-checked my e-mail exchange with Brian and it appears that he was involved with UWO's student newspaper, The Gazette, circa 1977.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the beautiful words about Brian. He always cared about the Sun, even after he left he was on the blog almost everyday to ck it out. He had many friends at the Sun. He was always looking up technical stuff on printers and papers from around the world. I miss him dearly and always will. He was a great husband and a great person.
ReplyDeleteKim Bullock
Wow, I am shocked and very sad to read this news. I have great memories of Brian and I owe him a huge debt of gratitude for basically giving me my career at The Edmonton Sun in 1981.
ReplyDeleteNobody in their right mind would have hired someone with my credentials for IT work but Brian saw something in me and gave me a huge break. I enjoyed employment with The Edmonton Sun for almost 19 years thanks to him.
He used to joke that I owed him big time since I was just a cab driver when he met me. He got a lot of "mileage" out of that joke for many years. He had a great sense of humour and was a true character.
If memory serves, he got a job offer at Wang Computers shortly after he hired me and he was off on a slightly different career path, but not for long. I think he landed back with The Sun chain in Calgary a year or so later.
I hadn't spoken to Brian in over a decade but I discovered on Google last year that he was running a campground up north and I was hoping to catch up with him this summer. I now regret not emailing or calling him sooner. My condolences to his wife Kim. Brian will certainly be missed, he was one of a kind.
6 months today since I lost my best friend. Hard to believe he's gone. The campground is not the same without him. I do miss him so. He really was a great guy and a great husband.
ReplyDelete