Obituaries
February 11, 1973 Dick Diespecker, radio announcer, producer, writer, newspaper columnist, died in San Francisco, aged 65. Richard Alan Diespecker was born March 1, 1907 in Adstock, Buckinghamshire, Eng. He came to Vancouver in 1927, the same year he began his newspaper career with The Vancouver Star. In 1936 he joined CJOR and began to write radio dramas. In 1940 he joined an artillery unit, later became a radio liaison officer. His Prayer for Victory, written in a Montreal hotel room in 1942, was aired on radio networks throughout the western world. His first book of poems, Two Furious Oceans, was published in 1944. In 1947 he won the Beaver Award for “distinguished service to Canadian radio.” The next year he won the Columbus Award for the three-part radio documentaryDestination Palestine. Diespecker wrote more than 400 radio plays for CJOR, CBC, BBC and the South African Broadcasting Corp. He was a columnist with theVancouver Star, the News-Herald and theVictoria Colonist, and wrote a popular column on radio for the Province. His 1950 novel Elizabeth told of the life of a pioneer woman.
Another novel, Rebound, appeared in 1953. Says BC Bookworld: “It’s the story of Stoney Martin, a Vancouver journalist who, in 1950, is returning to Vancouver from Toronto by train with his second wife, Jane. By coincidence, his conniving first wife. Susan, is also on the train. As the train makes its way across Canada, Stoney reminisces, recalling his stormy relationship with the ‘predatory female’ who tricked him with a false pregnancy into a miserable marriage. The novel paints an excellent picture of post Depression Vancouver. There is a particularly effective scene in which Stoney looks down upon the Victory Square cenotaph from his newspaper office on the eve of the outbreak of World War II. WhenRebound is not exonerating Stoney's part in his sexual relationship with the relentlessly ‘bad’ Susan, it is a fine novel with clear-eyed accounts of social problems and a deep sensitivity to Vancouver's unique character.” In 1958 Diespecker moved to San Francisco to join a public relations firm, and in 1964 became an American citizen.
http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/chronology1973.htm
Another novel, Rebound, appeared in 1953. Says BC Bookworld: “It’s the story of Stoney Martin, a Vancouver journalist who, in 1950, is returning to Vancouver from Toronto by train with his second wife, Jane. By coincidence, his conniving first wife. Susan, is also on the train. As the train makes its way across Canada, Stoney reminisces, recalling his stormy relationship with the ‘predatory female’ who tricked him with a false pregnancy into a miserable marriage. The novel paints an excellent picture of post Depression Vancouver. There is a particularly effective scene in which Stoney looks down upon the Victory Square cenotaph from his newspaper office on the eve of the outbreak of World War II. WhenRebound is not exonerating Stoney's part in his sexual relationship with the relentlessly ‘bad’ Susan, it is a fine novel with clear-eyed accounts of social problems and a deep sensitivity to Vancouver's unique character.” In 1958 Diespecker moved to San Francisco to join a public relations firm, and in 1964 became an American citizen.
http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/chronology1973.htm
Lieutenant-Colonel William Allen Townsley; Served with the 27th Battery Canadian Field Artillery in the First World War, Major in 31st Battery 15th Brigade Canadian Field Artillery from 1922 to 1924, member of the Vancouver Overseas Artillery Association in 1919, Commanding Officer of the 15th Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery from 1924 to 1930, founding member of the Vancouver Armoury Association in 1928, organized the 18th Field Regiment RCA in June 1941, took command of 2nd Medium Regiment later that year, took command of No. 1 Canadian Artillery Reinforcement Unit in May 1943, Officer of the Military Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire on 1 June 1945, engineer in charge of the Mt Lolo project in 1956, deceased 15 May 1973, buried Mountain View Cemetery Vancouver BC. Order of the British Empire, Military Cross, British War Medal, Victory Medal, Mentioned in Despatches.