Kamloops sports community mourns passing of Rick (The Bear) Wile

His coverage of all ranks – from grassroots minor sports to professional hall of famers and Olympians – was dogged, said Olsen.

“I know that for a fact,” Olsen said. “I overheard many, many conversations with sports people.”

Wile was an advocate for the local slo-pitch community.

“Rick was very passionate about the local sports community,” former longtime CFJC sports director Earl Seitz said. “That’s the one thing I remember very well about him. He was a legend, not just in the sports community, but certainly the slo-pitch community.”

Seitz said Wile was a friend and competitor for 40 years.

“I was with CFJC and he was with Radio NL, so it was always a challenge between the two of us,” Seitz said, noting their morning-radio rivalry was motivating. ‘Who could get the big story first? I got KOd a few times on that – quite a few times – and I’d like to think maybe I returned the favour a few times, as well. It’s sad news. It was very healthy competition.”

Added Olsen: “Oh, he was competitive. There is no doubt about it. He was also stubborn. He never backed down from a good, well, we’ll call it a discussion. He would go toe-to-toe with anybody and that included people in the newsroom. I swear he would go to the ends of the earth to make sure it hit air.”

Seitz laughed while recalling memories from sports scrums.

“The Bear would always bring along one of these big recording machines,” Seitz said. “They were about the size of a small suitcase. We’d all be there and here’s The Bear holding this big suitcase in front of the subject we were interviewing. I think he did that on purpose. It was hard for the rest of us to get a question in.”

Wile was chairman of the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame selection committee and a fixture in Kamloops Blazers’ coverage for decades.

“I have a lot of great memories of Bear,” said NHL Hall of Famer Mark Recchi, a Kamloops product and Wile interviewee during his stint with the Blazers. “He was around all the sports in Kamloops. He umpired us when we played fastpitch. You knew who he was. He loved sports. He had a huge passion and was just a terrific guy.”

Wile’s wife, Joy, shared photos of her late husband fishing, noting he loved being on the water and often told tales about the size of his catch.

Bear’s stories landed him in the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame in 2017, the first media inductee.

“He was a friend for a long time, friends with our family,” Recchi said. “It’s really sad to hear about this and blessings go out to his family.”

by Marty Hastings

Kamloops sports community mourns passing of Rick (The Bear) Wile

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