Johns, Bill (Skip) – December 29, 1937 to August 15, 2021.
It is with great sadness that the family of William Anthony Johns (Skip Johns) announce that on Sunday, August 15th 2021, at Grand River Hospital in Kitchener, Ontario, Skip passed away peacefully with his loving family by his side.
He is survived by his beloved wife of 58 years, Mary (nee Held), his loving children, Michelle (Will) and Ryan (Jane), his cherished grandchildren, Taylor and Josh, his dear sister Colinette (Paul) Yasenchak, and his sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Marlene and Father Stephen Fraser.
Skip was born on December 29th 1937, in Niagara Falls, Ontario to William Munroe Johns and Laura Grace Johns (nee Lauriston).
Later in life, Skip would pursue a writing career, signing on with the Niagara Falls Evening Review as a cub reporter. After a short stint in that role, Skip was promoted to full-time sports columnist. It was here that Skip would truly find his calling, reporting on high school sports and coining his patented column catch phrase “Skip’s Picks”. Of all the successes he had in his time at the Review, the most significant was that this is where he met the true love of his life, his wife of almost 59 years, Mary Carolyn Held.
In 1972, a year after his daughter Michelle was born, Skip left the Review to take up employment with the KW Record. Here he would continue to pursue his passion of reporting on high school athletics. He covered 15 high schools during the fall, winter & spring months writing his aforementioned column “Skip’s Picks” in which he predicted the winners of various high school games. Skip would retire from the Record in 2002 saying “I’m not sad about leaving the business, but I will miss the kids. Writing about them has been a delight”.
Skip won many awards in his time as a reporter, the most notable being in 1962, when he and his co-reporter Louis Grigoroff won the BF Goodrich award for spot news reporting for their article detailing the plunge of Nathan Boya over the falls in a rubber ball. Judges said of the two young reporters that “Johns and Grigoroff, fighting a deadline, combined their talents to do an excellent job on a major news story”.
Some of Skip’s other achievements include:
1986 – Skip won the Media Award given by the Ontario Physical Health Association for the work he had done to make amateur sports at the high school level a positive activity for the young people of Waterloo region.
2002 – Skip was given an award by the city of Niagara Falls and inducted into the Wall of Fame for the 1951-1970 Era, “Builder of Sport”.
2003 – Skip received an award from the K.W. Basketball Officials’ Association in recognition of his contribution towards the game of basketball in the Kitchener Waterloo Cambridge area.
2016 – Skip received the Lorne Rubenstein Media Award recognizing excellence in golf media given by the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame.
Skip’s other love of sport came in the way of golf. Skip played anywhere, anytime, rain or shine, as often as he could, amassing an impressive record of playing over 1000 courses in his time.
Cremation has taken place and a celebration of life will be announced at a later date. If you would like to receive information about the event, please email SkipsTribute2021@gmail.com and someone will reach out with details. To view Skip’s memorial, please visit www.henrywalser.com.
In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate any donations go to the Canadian Junior Golf Association. Please donate at www.cjga.com/ or in person at Henry Walser Funeral Home Ltd.
The family would also like to send a big thank you to all the hard-working staff at the Grand River Hospital 5th Floor South, to Kalem in the ICU, and most of all to Skip’s beloved granddaughter Taylor for taking such good care of her grandpa.
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Sunday August 15th 2021
Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de William BillSkip Johns Sunday August 15th 2021..
Décès pour la Ville:Kitchener, Province: Ontario