The Erie Otters of the OHL have posted that Jim Waters has passed away.
Waters was the team's owner and Governor. Of course, he was also the son of the late Alan Waters, founder of CHUM Radio, and was the face of the company after his father's passing.
Jim remained a fan of radio admitting to listening daily and, in an interview in 2023 admitted to Billboard "I wasn’t in favour of selling the company, but I knew, given the circumstances and the options we had, it was the right decision. CTV had never owned any radio so I offered to stay and help with the transition. (CTV president and CEO Ivan) Fecan said ‘No thanks’."
Milkman UnLimited sends our condolences to the Waters family. I first met Jim when I worked in Brockville. He was the owner.
When I was fortunate to join CHUM Ottawa shortly after the launch of KOOL FM, Jim always remembered me, and insisted I call him Jim, not Mr. Waters.
One of my most treasured radio memories is a letter he wrote after traveling to Ottawa for a CRTC meeting where he noted that listening to my show was one of the highlights of his trip.
I know so many who knew him and worked for the CHUM group have similar stories.
In the very early days of MilkmanUnLimited, the site was hosted on servers owned by his company. He was incredibly enthusiastic and supportive of the community that was being built and often participated in message board conversations being held here.
I am forever grateful.
What a loss.