Year Born:
1931
Year of Induction:
2007
Pioneer – Member of CAB Hall of Fame
Lockhart, Robert (Bob) (1931- )
Robert ‘Bob’ Lockhart, while following his chosen field of broadcasting, is as well known for his work in community affairs in both Saint John and Fredericton, where he resides in retirement.
Bob played a key role as part of the Fundy Broadcasting group that established AM station CFBC in Saint John in 1946 and made it successful despite the fact that his competition was owned by a company that owned the two daily newspapers and later the TV station. By 1958, his stature had grown to the point where he was voted top announcer in Newfoundland.
He established an extensive network of news correspondents throughout New Brunswick and western Nova Scotia, and later in 1965 he helped Fundy to launch CFBC-FM. He became well known to the area during the 1960s, when he launched a radio call-in show “Talk of the Town” which he hosted from 1962 to 1969. The program covered current town topics and many of them were hot political items.
This led Bob into politics, and he eventually became Mayor of Saint John from 1971 to 1974, and again from 1980 to 1983. Throughout his career he was a member of almost every association, charity and community effort in Saint John. Bob served as Director of the Atlantic Association of Broadcasters, as the Atlantic Regional Representative to the Broadcast News Board, as a CAB Director representing the Atlantic Region and as an active member of the Radio & Television News Directors Association, and a Director of VoicePrint Broadcasting, and served as the New Brunswick director of CNIB.
In 1969 he received the Lions International Medal of Merit for distinguished public service to Saint John. He was presented with the Canadian Peacekeeping Medal for his military service in Cyprus in 1974.
He was inducted into the CAB Hall of Fame in 2007.
Written by Ross McCreath – October, 2007