Howard "Hub" Beaudry

Birthplace
Massey, Ontario

Birthdate
June 19, 1929

Deceased
December 3, 2004

First Media Job
CKSO Radio Sales Representative


Howard “Hub” Beaudry, born 1929, appeared on CKSO TV in the 1960s before joining CBC television in Ottawa in 1968. He was a native of Massey, Ontario, near Sudbury.

Hub Beaudry played Senior A hockey. He first played for the Charlottetown Islanders of the MMHL for three seasons, between 1950 and 1953. He then played for the Sudbury Wolves between 1953 and 1958. He was known as a smooth-skating centre, one of the best penalty killers in the league.

After his time with the Sudbury Wolves, Hub Beaudry joined the staff at CKSO Radio as an Advertising Sales Representative. However, he soon served as an assistant to the station’s sportscaster. Hub also hosted a popular children’s after-school television program called, “Hub’s Club”. Each evening at 5:00 the half-hour live broadcast introduced a different group of kids. The show was filled with conversation, skits, skills demonstrations, amateur talent and competitions for the sake of friendly, fun rivalry.

Hub Beaudry worked under Dan Kelly until Dan eventually left for an Ottawa television station, CBOT. Beaudry took over for Dan as Sportscaster. In 1968 Dan Kelly left Ottawa and Dan’s Ottawa boss decided to call Hub and offer him Kelly’s position. Hub accepted this career opportunity and moved his family to the nation’s capital.

He joined the CBC station and just as he did in Sudbury, became well known and popular as a sports broadcaster. His 1968 move to Ottawa turned into a 24-year career with the network, covering sports for the station.

On or off the air, Hub’s enthusiasm for sports never eased. He could be found in a dark blue sweat suit jogging around the coliseum, cross-country skiing with his wife and two sons, or doggedly pursuing, as Clarence Metcalf once wrote in The Ottawa Journal (March 22, 1975), “...a little white ball around his favourite golf course”.

As a jogger, one of Hub’s favourite experiences was running alongside Terry Fox in the early summer of 1980. Beaudry was deeply shaken by Fox’s death in June of 1981. Terry’s death would hit home in 1984 when Hub’s own son, Philip who had reached Terry Fox’s age, was killed in an automobile accident.

Hub Beaudry was also well known for his big heart and his passion for his work and sense of humour with a natural ability to play the clown on occasion. In December of 1979 Beaudry hosted the opening of a new winter festival called Winterlude in Ottawa serving as the inaugural Winterlude ice hog. Ice Hogs came out from under plywood leaning against the embankment of the Rideau Canal near the National Arts Centre.

Hub Beaudry has been described as one of the nicest men in the business and in addition to his great sense of humour, he also had a perspective on sports.

Suffering from strokes, Hub passed away at the age of 75 on December 3, 2004.

He left behind his wife, Elizabeth. He had two sons, Timothy and Philip. Philip who predeceased him was planning a career in broadcasting and had studied at Fanshawe College. He had started at CFRA as an operator. Philip died as the result of a car accident in the Ottawa area. Hub was also survived by a grandson Craig.