CTV Calgary broadcast legend Darrel Janz dies at 83

Calgary broadcast legend Darrel Janz has died at the age of 83.

For decades, viewers tuned in to CTV Calgary to see Darrel anchor the news and report on inspiring Albertans.

He inspired thousands of young journalists and continued telling Calgarians' stories until his last days.

He worked on the air for 61 years, including 50 years bringing the news to southern Alberta on CTV Calgary.

Early years

Darrel grew up in the small town of Main Centre, Sask.

He spoke about those days in a documentary, A Life in News, that first aired in 2013, produced by longtime CTV colleague, video journalist Kevin Green.

"Life centred around two things: the church and the school," Darrel said in the documentary.

Classmates and teachers said Darrel developed a love of reading and current events in Main Centre.

He attended high school in the nearby town of Herbert.

After high school, he went to teachers' college in Regina but taught for just one year before starting his broadcasting career at CFAM Radio in Altona, Man.

"On June 29, I handed out my kids' report cards and started my career on Dominion Day 1962," he said.

From radio to TV

The next year, Darrel moved on to CHAB-TV & Radio in Moose Jaw, Sask., and later to CFQC-TV in Saskatoon.

He covered newsmakers like then-Saskatchewan premier Tommy Douglas and former prime minister John Diefenbaker as television moved from black-and-white to colour.

"I got to do a bit of everything where I met a lot of people who later on became prominent in Saskatchewan news," Darrel said of those days.

Later in the 1960s, Darrel headed to Montreal, where he anchored and reported on CFCF-TV.

There, he covered more history-making newsmakers, including prime minister Pierre Trudeau and Quebec premier René Lévesque.

He also reported extensively on the FLQ crisis of October 1970.

"For a newsperson, you always want to be at the centre of the biggest story in the world, and I was in the right place at the right time," Darrel said.

Heading back West

After a short stint in London, Ont., as an anchor at CFPL-TV, Darrel came to Calgary to anchor at CFCN-TV (now CTV Calgary).

"I signed a five-year contract and was thinking that would be enough. Then it would be time to head to Toronto to the big show," Darrel said in the 2013 documentary.

But his Calgary stop turned into many decades longer.

"I have stayed and have no regrets about it whatsoever because I couldn't have thought about a better place to make my career than here," he said.

From 1973 to 1987, Darrel anchored the news at 6 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.

From 1987 to 2010, he co-anchored the six o'clock news, including 21 years with Barb Higgins.

Darrel travelled to Baden-Baden, Germany, to cover the IOC's announcement that Calgary would host the 1988 Olympic Winter Games.

In the 1990s, he followed Operation Christmas Child's distribution of gift-filled shoeboxes from Calgary to the hands of children in Bosnia.

"It will forever remain the true highlight of my career," Darrel said of the Bosnia assignment.

Back to teaching

During his time in Calgary, Darrel put his earlier training at Saskatchewan Teachers' College to good use.

He was a broadcast journalism instructor at SAIT for 11 years and at Mount Royal College for 15 years.

He worked with dozens of his former students over the years and always said he was proud of their achievements.

Return to reporting roots

After his longtime co-anchor Barb Higgins left CTV Calgary to run for mayor in 2010, Darrel moved off the main anchor desk and back to his roots as a reporter.

He launched the weekly "Inspired" series, profiling more than 650 exceptional Albertans.

"It's been such a joy doing that for 13 years and meeting so many amazing people," Darrel said in 2023.

Recent projects

Darrel liked to say, "The word 'retirement' is not in my vocabulary," and after leaving CTV in May 2023, he began a new project.

He co-hosted the interview show Legacy Makers, a series on YES TV, that profiles Albertans who are leaving an inspiring, impactful legacy.

In 2024, Darrel paid tribute to his friend, Ron "Buck Shot" Barge, when the legendary CTV Calgary children's entertainer died at age 87.

"When he was on TV as Buck Shot, he was as Ron Barge," Darrel said. "He was a kind, caring person."

A legacy-maker himself, Darrel influenced the lives of so many, personally and professionally.

He made this reflection in 2023: "I can't believe that growing up in that little Mennonite community, on that farm, and going to a little school ... I just say it's amazing that I could do what I have done, coming from there. It's just tremendous."

Awards and honours:

• CanPro Gold Award for the documentary From A Child's Hand, 1995
• Numerous team awards from the Radio Television News Directors Association
• Honorary Bachelor of Communications – Journalism Degree from Mount Royal College, 2003
• Volunteer Calgary Heart of Calgary Award, 2004
• RTNDA Lifetime Achievement Award, 2006
• Honorary Bachelor of Applied Technology Degree from SAIT Polytechnic, 2009
• Western Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame Award, 2013
• City of Calgary Award for Community Activism, 2013

Career highlights:

• Coverage of Quebec's October Crisis, 1970
• Coverage of Calgary's 1981 bid to host the 1988 Olympic Winter Games, the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the 1988 Calgary Olympics, several federal and provincial political leadership conventions and dozens of elections
• Darrel's most memorable assignment was travelling with shoeboxes from Calgary children to kids in the war-ravaged countries of Bosnia and Croatia in 1995

A memorial service will be held at the Centre Street Church on Dec. 5, 1 p.m.

With files from Kevin Green